


Blasted Back

by Sarinaamy, SophieJE619



Category: Heathers (1988), Heathers: The Musical - Murphy & O'Keefe
Genre: Alternate Universe - Dark, F/M, Forced Bonding, Forced Marriage, Forced Relationship, Ghosts, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, Kidnapping, Mental Anguish, Miscarriage, Pregnancy, Smut, Supernatural Elements, Twisted Romance, Warning: this was made in a late night I message chat, What Have I Done, Wtf is my life, Yandere, You Have Been Warned, run while you still can
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-10-01
Updated: 2018-12-18
Packaged: 2019-01-07 18:12:43
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Major Character Death, Rape/Non-Con, Underage
Chapters: 16
Words: 32,781
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12238059
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sarinaamy/pseuds/Sarinaamy, https://archiveofourown.org/users/SophieJE619/pseuds/SophieJE619
Summary: In which things go wrong... horribly wrong. God help Veronica.





	1. Prolouge

“Say Hi to God.” *BOOM!* the smoke cleared and Veronica blinked in surprise. Where JD and the bomb had stood, there was a patch of charred and destroyed grass, but no sign of JD. Not even a scrap of fabric or splash of blood. For all the world could’ve known, he never stood there with the bomb. Veronica, though slightly confused, turned and went inside the school. He couldn’t have survived that blast anyway…


	2. It's Not Over...

He survived. He was lying against a tree in the woods by Westerburg High. He groaned in pain and opened his eyes. “What happened?” He asked. No response. He looked down and saw his T-Shirt was all shredded and charred. So, he took it off to assess the damage to his torso. Surprisingly, aside from the bullet wound Veronica had given him, his wounds weren’t too horrible. Wait… Veronica! He had to find her, his survival was a sign that he was right! Their love was truly God!

JD decided that, since Veronica would NOT want to go with him, he’d simply have to keep her with him for a bit while he fixed her mind. And so, his first stop would be his house, to fetch some supplies… He was quick to get onto his feet. In getting up he immediately tripped over a raised tree root, leaving a smear of blood on the trunk of the tree. He decided that it wouldn’t be unreasonable to get some medical supplies. He’d get those as well, when he got home, he supposed.

His father was, thankfully, not home when he got there. He took the emergency money stash, some bandages, some hydrogen peroxide, and some rope. After thinking for a second, he grabbed a clean washcloth. He grinned to himself when he saw that it was blue. He was nearly ready, as he’d found an abandoned house in the woods that was already too far away from anyone to be able to hear anything. There was a living space through the front door, and a basement with no windows. It was very dark down there and, except for a tiny lamp, the room was empty.

He rushed out to it and prepared the room for Veronica. It included a bed but, of course, no bed sheets. He couldn’t have a repeat of that scare from earlier, now could he? Afterwards, JD put the money away and thought to himself “Ok, so bleach and acetone… that should be easy right?” After thinking for a moment he remembered seeing the words “pure acetone” on a bottle of nail polish remover in Veronica’s room. But first things first: he needed to pack up some other supplies, food, and clothes to give to Veronica.

* * *

 

***Meanwhile at Martha’s….***

Veronica and Martha had just finished watching “The Princess Bride” together when Veronica turned and nudged Martha awake. “Zzz… Wha?” She groaned. Veronica waited for Martha to wake up a little. “Hey Martha?” She asked, “Yeah?” Martha replied. “Do you know what happened earlier today?” Veronica asked. “No, why?” asked Martha. “Martha… I want you to listen, very carefully. This is going to be hard to hear and you probably won’t believe me but please, hear me out.” “Alright, what is it?” Martha responded.

“So, you know how when I came into the school today, I looked like a bomb had blown up in my face?” Veronica asked. “Yeah, why?” Her best friend responded. “Well… That was because of JD. And, do you remember how I said he had ‘blown me off?’ So to speak?” ‘Yes…” Martha said, her eyes widening. “That’s not exactly what happened… He wanted to blow up the school.” Veronica then went on to tell Martha JD’s plan to blow up the school, even going down to explain the details of placing the packs of thermals under the bleachers.

“What happened to him?” Martha asked, her voice quivering a little bit, her face paler than usual. “He took the bomb and blew himself up on the football field.” Veronica replied, before adding on her own thoughts. “But, oddly enough, I couldn’t find anything of his body afterwards. Not even a scrap of fabric or a blood stain.” Martha was terrified, she was trembling, her lip was quivering, and she almost seemed to be crying. Veronica quickly hugged the poor girl. “I’m sorry, Martha.” She said. “I never wanted any of this to happen.”

“It’s f-fine…” Martha stammered, hugging her friend in return. “But, I’m not going to another pep rally ever again.” “Agreed.” Veronica said. “I was going to make you promise not to go. I don’t know what I would do if you or Heather McNamara got hurt.” “I’ll warn her, if you want me to.” Martha offered. “Yes, warn her, warn anyone who will listen.” Veronica said. “He may be dead, but I’m not letting any of my loved ones take any chances.”

* * *

 

***Back to JD***

It’s been a few days since the pep rally. JD thought it best to bide his time and heal his wounds a little. In his off time, he’d returned to the abandoned house with two combination locks. The basement locked from the outside, and the front door could be locked from both the inside and out. Score!

However, he still needed a plan to get her there in the first place… Of course! He could forge a note from their old friend, Heather Duke. He carefully pulled out a red pen and paper, and going off of her copy of Moby Dick; he had stolen back from Veronica’s house, and began to mimic the cursive handwriting:

 ** _"Veronica:_  **  
**_I know about that little stunt that you and your “boyfriend” tried to pull at the pep rally. Perhaps you should try to keep your secrets a little more efficiently. It’s not that hard to guess how those sticks of dynamite got into the gym when a girl comes inside looking like she just got blown up by a bomb. I’ve also dug a little deeper and found out what really happened to Heather, Ram, and Kurt. If you don’t want anything to slip into the ears of the police, meet me after school at Kurt and Ram’s “suicide site” in the forest. Perhaps even bring some money as an insurance policy. I’ll see you there._  **  
**_~ H. Duke"_ **

“There, ¡Es perfecto!” JD smiled, slipping the note into his trench coat. Seeing as there were no students in the halls, only the staff in the teacher’s lounge now would be a good time to sneak in and slip the note into Veronica’s locker. It’d also give him some time to prepare the chloroform with Veronica’s nail polish remover and the bleach. Oh good Lord, did he have a long afternoon ahead…


	3. God Help Veronica

JD planted the note in Veronica’s locker and smiled to himself; she’d never know what hit her, but he knew already. He’d knock her out with his love if he had to. “Soon, my dear. You’ll be in my arms soon.” He kissed his hand and blew it towards her locker, as if it was her standing there, reading a love letter from him. He then turned to go out and get onto his motorcycle  
.  
Once he was sure that nobody was in the house, he quickly grabbed the ladder and snuck into her room. He first picked up the nail polish remover off of her vanity and, sure enough, it said “Pure Acetone” on the label. He then grabbed a suitcase from her closet and began to pack her many outfits, especially the mini-skirts and thigh highs.

As he packed up her things, he turned around and saw the Barbie hanging in the Big Fun shirt. A thought came to him. He quickly grabbed Veronica’s pen and opened to the first blank page and began to write:

**_"Dear Mom and Dad,_  **   
**_If you’re reading this, then you’ve noticed I’m gone. But, don’t come looking for me. By the time you’ve read this, I’ll have been long gone. JD and I are eloping and decided to move when we do so. I love you both dearly, but it’s a private event and you aren’t invited. Please, just forget about me. Goodbye._  **   
**_With love, your daughter, Veronica"_ **

JD smiled and set the pen down, now that her parents were out of the way, he didn’t have to worry about any people who could pose a significant threat coming to look for his darling, Veronica. He then grabbed the suitcase, but not before noticing the one white dress that she had in her closet. Oh well, might as well give her something to at least make her feel like a bride…

* * *

 

***2:20, Westerburg High***

Veronica had just been set free from seventh period and was running through the crowd towards her locker. She’d opened the locker to find a note. It was from Heather Duke… “I didn’t realize she was a fag, too” Veronica thought aloud, deciding to humor Heather Duke and read the note. When she scanned through it however, her face paled, her eyes dilated, and she forgot about everything that she wasn’t holding and raced out the door into the forest behind the school.

Jumping three steps at a time, she bounded out of the school, not even bothering to acknowledge Martha or Heather McNamara. “What the hell was that all about?” Heather Duke asked, coming up to the pair. Martha just shrugged. “Probably something to do with… You know never mind, she’s probably fine.” “Huh, probably on her period.” Heather Duke said, before walking away to her jeep. “What were you going to say Martha?” Heather McNamara asked. “... Umm… Meet me in the bathroom in five.” Martha said. “I don’t want to talk about it in front of everyone.”

Meanwhile, Veronica was running for her life, somehow managing not to get cut by low-hanging tree branches until-- BAM!!! She tripped on root. She didn’t even stay down for more than a second; she just got right back up. By the time she had reached the clearing, she was huffing and puffing and desperately trying to fix up her look. She'd messed up her hair by letting it fly in the wind behind her. Her clothes were slightly dirty from tripping and there was slight bruise forming on her cheek bone. Knowing that Heather Duke would no-doubt laugh her ass off if Veronica looked like she’d actually run to this place, she did everything in her power to look flawless again. She almost succeeded, except for the goddamn bruise. Oh well, good enough.

After fixing herself up, she realized that Heather Duke had still not made herself known… How unsettling. She furrowed her eyebrows and scanned the clearing, her heart still racing from the adrenaline. Somewhere in the distance, there were leaves rustling, almost as if they were telling her to run back to the school. A chill ran down her spine, she looked around again, but nobody was there. She took a half-step forward… “H-Heather?” She called, trying to hide the stutter.

Suddenly, her arms were pinned behind her back, and when she heard a voice in her ear, despite its hot breath, it still made her blood freeze. “Greetings and salutations, Darling.” JD whispered. “You must be tired after running that long way. Why don’t you rest?” Her heart sank and she struggled to break free, her mouth opened to scream, but a cloth was placed over it. The breath that she was going to use to cry out for help ended up filling her lungs with an intoxicatingly sweet smell. Her mind was slowing, her struggles becoming weaker and weaker, her vision blurring ever so slightly around the edges.

“Hush now, my dear.” He whispered into her ear, as she stopped struggling, her bliss-like haze overpowering her. Her eyes fluttered shut, and she slumped against him. “That’s my good girl.” He said with a smile. “You’ll be safe with me, Darling. Right back in my arms, where you belong.” After feeling her pulse, which had gone back to normal, he shifted her around, so that he was carrying her bridal style. She still had the note in her hands. He smiled at the slight peak of read handwriting that he could see. “Thank you, Miss Duke. You’ve finally done something useful successfully, haven’t you?”

Without another word, he marched off to the abandoned house with a sense of satisfaction. He’d performed his plan without flaw, and now his reward was being carried in his arms like a bride to her honeymoon. Kicking open the door the way he imagined he would, he continued to proceed down to the basement, instead of the master bedroom, and placed down the sleeping angel in his life on her marriage bed. He then went back upstairs and locked the front door. He then realized the chair that was there, and dragged it down along with some rope. He couldn’t have his bride waking up, disoriented and trying to beat the shit out of him. He wasn’t really a masochist when it came to more than just biting.

He tied her to the bed, gently enough that he didn’t cut off blood flow, but firmly enough that she couldn’t slip out. He then set the chair in front of the bed, waiting for her to wake up and watching the peaceful rise and fall of her chest as she slept. Then, an idea came into his mind. He got up, and grabbed that white dress from her bag. If he was going as far as have a honeymoon, might as well give his bride a wedding dress.

Thinking of how much chloroform she inhaled, he figured she’d be out for a while, so he carefully untied the rope and slipped off her outfit. It was just as beautiful as the first time he saw that much of her. He smiled, a lusty blush creeping on his face, but resisted the urge to take off anything more. That was for later, once his beautiful angel woke up. He slipped the white dress onto her, careful not to mess up her hair. After all, she’d gone so much trouble to make it look nice for him, like any girl should for her man. In the dress, she looked like a more modest, brunette, Marilyn Monroe, but of course she was even more beautiful than that.

After dressing her up in her beautiful white dress, he tied her back up. Afterwards, he produced one of his dad’s bowties, and put it on. Man, was Veronica in for a surprise when she woke up. But, for now, JD was content with just sitting here, watching this beautiful muse of his dreams, sleeping like the baby she is.


	4. One Hell of A "Honeymoon"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Veronica is totally fucked. Literally.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: Rape/Non-con
> 
> I've put the smut part in between line spaces.

12 hours. 12 hours he waited for her to wake up. Maybe he put a little too much chloroform in her system. However, it seems she enjoyed her sleep, because it took her a few minutes to register the fact that this was not her old bedroom. “Welcome back, Darling.” JD said, causing her to jerk her head to the side, where he sat with his elbows perched on his semi-crossed leg. “You!” She hissed, trying to wriggle free of the ropes so that she could punch him and run for it. However, the only thing she would ever accomplish was getting some red rope-burn marks on her wrists and ankles.

JD quickly got up and ran his hands lovingly across her forearms and face. This seemed to aggravate her even more, but he kept on, cooing at her. “Hush, Veronica. You’ll work yourself into a fit.” “Let me go, you asshole!” She snarled, trying to bite at his hand. He quickly withdrew his hand, and sighed through his nose. “The lady doth protest too much, methinks.” He said, making her even angrier. “Don’t bring Shakespeare into this! Don’t you dare!” She snapped. “Shhh,” JD said, bringing his hand to her cheek, but running it down to her neck, and then her collarbone, and then her chest, her torso, and stopping at her waist.

* * *

 Veronica jerked around, trying to get him to stop touching her. “Get your hands off of me, you monster!” She growled. “Shush, Love. I’ll fix you soon enough and then we can be happy together.” JD said, before bowing down to kiss his lovely, yet uncooperative bride. She tried to break the kiss but his other hand was holding her face still. Eventually, she felt him lick his tongue across her lower lip, but she refused him, pressing her lips together in a firm, tight-lipped frown. So, instead, he trailed his hand on her hip down to reach up under the skirt of her dress.

When she felt his hand on her thigh, she wanted to scream, but she refused to open her mouth. Suddenly, a harsh slap to her thigh and sharp tug of her hair brought back the memories of her night as a dead girl walking… The night she lost her virginity to this man and she liked it. Talk about the biggest regret in her life… Maybe? He began to touch her in the same places as where she had been moaning for him to touch on that night, so long ago… Before any of this happened… A tear threatened to pass by the corner of her eye, remembering Heather Chandler… Kurt… Ram… What would’ve happened if she’d never gone to JD’s house that night?

She squeezed her eyes shut, hoping to shut out the event that was currently unfolding, but she was simply greeted by the memories of the same event, happening on that night so long ago… When she still loved Jason Dean… Loved… That’s the right grammar tense, right? Ack! Of course it is! Veronica hates JD now! However, during her “unpleasant(?)” reminiscing of the old days, her guard had gone down and JD took the opportunity to slip his tongue into her mouth. She growled into JD’s kiss, trying to fight him off and failing miserably.

There was only one last thing she could do… She sank her teeth in JD’s tongue, only clamping down on it harder when she tasted blood. “AGHH!” JD yelled, yanking his tongue out of Veronica’s jaw grip. After checking to make sure she hadn’t ripped off a piece of his tongue, he gave her a very stern look. “That’s not very nice, Darling. I’m afraid you’ll have to be punished for that little stunt.” He said, unzipping her dress and removing it. He did so by taking the skirt and pulling it over Veronica’s arms, turning it inside out in the process. Oh well, he’ll remove that dress from the ropes later.

He nuzzled into her neck, running kisses along the space between her jaw and her shoulder. Eventually, he found that spot that could make her moan, knowing exactly where it was from experience, and he bit down on it.  _Hard._  “AHH!!!” She squealed. JD snickered. “You see, my dear? You say you hate me, but I know how to make you feel good. Nobody else will be able to make you feel this way, I’m going to make sure of that…” He then began using his tongue, which to both of their surprise had the bite marks embedded into it that could be felt on the smooth skin of Veronica’s clavicle.

While this made Veronica shudder from the fact that she had no idea her jaw was so powerful, this only reminded JD that he was on a mission to make his bride beg for mercy. So, he wasted no time in removing Veronica’s bra. There was something about seeing her like this, tied up and nervous, that made ferality creep into JD’s eyes. Something about the control he had over her unlocked a sort of beast inside him… Something about this gave him an insatiable need to leave her totally.  _Wrecked!_  And that is exactly what he did.

He dove for one of her breasts and started sucking on the bud, his teeth biting down on it and rolling it in his mouth. Veronica cried out in the most pleasured way possible, trying to make it seem like she didn’t want this to be happening, but he knew. He knew what he was doing… He knew that she enjoyed this, somehow. Somewhere, deep down in the back of her head, or in the bottom of her heart, she loved every second of what he was doing to her.

She whimpered and grunted, trying to get him off, but he was having none of that. Soon enough he left the job of handling her breasts to his fingers, while he kissed, nipped, and licked his tongue down to her black and blue lace panties. He snickered. “Did you wear these for me, Darling?” “Ugh, fuck off!” She snapped. “Oh, but then our love story would be cut short, my dear?” JD said, pouting a little. “You know how I adore romance stories, but the story of us is my favorite.”

“URGHHH!!!!!” She growled, almost wriggling her foot loose enough to kick him. JD quickly grabbed her ankle and re-tied the knot. “Of course, the course of true love never did run smooth.” He said, rubbing his thumb across her inner ankle. “I THOUGHT I TOLD YOU NOT TO BRING SHAKESPEARE INTO THIS!” She snarled. “Hush, my beautiful bride, save your pretty voice for when I make love to you.” Was his calm, yet twisted, reply.

“I am not your bride!” Veronica hissed. “You keep saying that, my dear. But it's not like you're ever going to be able to do this with anyone else, so it really doesn't matter.” JD said, smiling sweetly at her. “Fuck you!” She growled. “Oh, but I'm already doing that to you, Darling.” He said, before dipping his head down to her panties. He bit at her flower through the garment, before pulling it down to her knees. That's as far as he could pull them with her legs spread the way they were.

After finally getting rid of all the clothing on her body, JD took a second to marvel at Veronica's curves. She was as beautiful as before. If not, maybe even more beautiful than before, because she belonged to him alone now. With her as naked as the day she was born, JD dipped his head down again to tease her for the bite. He kept her legs as spread apart as possible, while he took a long, passionate, loving lick.

As much as Veronica wanted to say she didn't enjoy a single bit of it, she be lying if she said she wasn't trembling from the pleasure of every little thing he did. Every lick of his tongue, whether long and passionate, or short and teasing; every time his nose bumped against her special bundle of nerves, just above the entrance to her womb; Her mind was having no fun whatsoever from this experience, but her body… Ohoho, her body was having a field day in nirvana.

Feeling her shake and tremble, her breath hitching and whistling through her trachea, made JD feel so proud. He always loved the idea of making his partners whimper and whine and be reduced to moaning messes. He was definitely a giver in that sense. “Nghhhhhh!!” She whined, almost forgetting about JD and his torturous pleasure. Her mind was fighting with her body now.

She wanted it to stop, really, she did, but at the same time, she was enjoying this way too much! “No!!!” She growled, struggling with the rope. However, when he shushed her from in between her legs, it sent vibrations through her core, making her moan out his name in a way that would make her not want to show her face anywhere outside this basement, so, in a way, she was almost lucky to be trapped down here… Almost… In the worst way possible.

“There's that beautiful noise I like to hear from you,” JD said, his voice sending vibrations through her once again. She gasped for air, shuddering, as she shut her eyes as tightly as she could, hoping to disappear completely. It didn't work, all it did was press some tears out of her eyes, tears that were wiped away by the pad of JD’s thumb. “Shhh… I’ll take good care of you, Veronica.” He crooned, chucking his trench coat, bowtie, and t-shirt.

Veronica’s eyes widened, her body trembling, even with it being extremely hot in the room. That heat that she was feeling was of her own stupid body’s reaction to the situation. Damn hormones! Still, the chill of fear was felt across her skin, over sensitizing her nerves so that she could feel every touch of his fingers or tongue ever more electrifying against her skin, now covered in goose bumps.

Even when he was simply flitting his fingers across her arms, intertwining his hands with hers, she felt like she was being over stimulated, the feel of this situation was overwhelming… Overwhelmingly amazing… And then she felt it: the coarse fabric of JD’s jeans, with something hard underneath them, rutting against her heat. Her unwanted arousal had taken a pulse now, the epicenter situated somewhere in the realm of her lower intestines.

Waves of sensitivity, waves of feeling, waves of something rippled through her in a constant beat. He didn’t even think that she’d try to run anymore, if he were to risk untying her. She just wanted to cover her face and cry it all away. This was too much for her. She couldn’t take how sexually frustrated she was with herself. He wasn’t even completely undressed, and already, he had her teetering on an edge. But it wasn’t the edge of an orgasm, no.

“I can feel you trying to resist, my Darling. But I know. I know that you’re getting tired already.” She wanted to snap back at him. Ohh, how she wanted to… But she couldn’t. Not right now, at least. She was too horny. The edge rose up behind her, as she jumped off in weak resignation. She lost hold of the tension in her hands, wrists, feet, and ankles. She just closed her eyes, limp as a dead body. “F… Fine…” She whispered with a sigh. “You win…”

JD smiled, and unzipped his jeans. It looked even more constricting in his tighty whities without the denim covering it. Part of Veronica still wanted to be disgusted, but couldn’t find it in herself to be so. She just lay there as JD removed the underwear as well. He then bent down to kiss her, and whispered in her ear, “Don’t worry, you’ll feel good tonight, Sweetheart.” She didn’t respond, just tilted her head away. When he pushed inside of her, however, she couldn’t control the scream of pain that ripped from her throat.

JD was kind enough to not move for a minute, as if it was her first time, but afterwards, he had no control over the snap of his hips into her womanhood. Soon enough, she was moaning as if she enjoyed this. Her making such approving noises for him started to get him even more horny, and by extension was getting him off quite nicely. The beauty below him was trembling and out of reflex she tried to pull her hands out of the knots. Whether it was to hit him or to wrap her hands around his neck, it didn't matter, she couldn't do either because no matter how hard she pulled, her hands would not come undone from the bindings.

Veronica was trembling as JD continued to completely wreck her tight hole, her back arching and his hands wrapping underneath her, pulling her towards him in a way that put strain on her shoulder blades. The pain of it all was numbing, as her nerves stopped registering the constant unnatural stretch of the muscles where JD was handling her. However, the wave after wave of feeling from JD's dick stretching her out wasn't dying, and neither was the feeling of him thrusting at just the right angle to hit that spot that he knew from experience would make her see the stars. 

Veronica's breath hitched in her throat, before it forcibly expelled itself in the form of a pleasured cry. Her vision blurred over until all she saw was white. Above her, JD watched as she convulsed and trembled. As she tightened around him, he finally joined her on her physical high, and filled her up quite nicely. After allowing her to calm down and stop trembling, he pulled out and collapsed beside her.

"Did you enjoy yourself, my love?" JD asked, still panting from the exertion. "No," Veronica said, shuddering as she felt him snaking his hands around her body. JD pouted. At the sight of tears coming out of her eyes, he quickly kissed her cheek just under her eyelids, licking up the salty water-based fluid. She turned her head away from him, and he took the oportunity to kiss her ear, before whispering. "You know that I don't like it when you lie to me, Darling. But, no matter, I know you had fun with me."

* * *

 After getting on his clothes, he grabbed the washcloth and bottle of chloroform that he had taken with him, and pressed the washcloth to Veronica's face. "You should rest, Darling. You went through quite the strenuous physical pursuit, just now." He said. She soon fell asleep again, and he could remove the dress from the ropes and folded it nicely for her. Half an hour later, Veronica woke up. She was still tied to the bed, still naked, and the drafty air of the basement was billowing against her skin, making her chilled. She shuddered.

JD noticed her movement and said, "Welcome back, Darling." All of the sex came flooding back to her, and she freaked out. "YOU DIDN'T USE A CONDOM!!!!!" She yelled. The noise bounced off the walls, echoing in her ears. She winced. "No, I suppose I didn't. But, that's alright. I've always wanted to start a family with you." "I DON'T WANT ONE WITH  _YOU_!!!!!" She retorted. "I'm not bringing a child into this hell hole!" Then, she remembered that she hadn't forgotten to take the pill this morning. She was still safe. It visibly calmed her down. "Now, what was that about, Dear?" "Thank God. I'm on the pill." She sighed. JD pouted, before noticing that she have shivered again from the cold. He quickly removed his trench coat and placed it over her. "Patience, my Dear. I'll let you get dressed in a little while, once I get all of these potential weapons out."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, we hope you enjoyed it. If you didn't, please be civil in the comments, down below. It's not like we didn't warn you that chapter was coming, in advance.~ Sophie J.E.
> 
> (Please show some respect here... this is the first and last chapter that Sophie worked on for this story on her own I want to show respect to her work and hope that you do as well) ~Sarinaamy out


	5. Bombs and Forgiveness

*The basement of the abandoned house*  
Morning: 10 am

JD had just finished moving anything Veronica could hit him or herself with, out of the room and untied Veronica. Veronica reeled back her arm in an attempt to punch JD’s face, but JD caught it “Ah, ah, ah” he said waving his finger at her “Be good or I’ll have to sedate you again and you won’t be able to walk around”. He let go and this time Veronica just went to go get clothes out of her bag. As she dressed she screwed her eyes shut, trying to get herself to wake up from this nightmare. However, there she stood, fully dressed, still in the basement, still with JD. She thought to herself, “Why god, what’d I do to deserve this?”

JD watched Veronica get dressed, he was sad to see her covered up again. But pleased that she wore one of her blazer, skirt combos. When she was done he went over to her, and kissed her cheek, Veronica shuddered in disgust, and he said “I’m going out for a bit Darling, be good while I’m gone. Food is in the cabinet if you get hungry.” He turned and went upstairs, locking the doors behind him. Ensuring his gorgeous angel of a bride would still be there when he returned. He left the woods, blowing a kiss in the direction of the house and imagining Veronica leaning out one of the windows waiting eagerly, to catch it…. Oh well she’d be better soon enough, she just needed rest. He needed some new bombs however…

Veronica, as soon as she heard JD leave and thought he was far enough away tried to open the door, damn… it was locked! Of course he’d think to do that, she just hoped that he wouldn’t be back before she found a way out. She tried all three of the different doors in the basement in order to leave, the obvious one to the upstairs was locked, and the other two were just empty rooms with a couple of empty boxes in them. She was trapped. She curled up into a ball in the corner and hugged her knees. She wondered just what had she done so wrong to end up here.

Heather Chandler materialized at the base of the stairs. She looked around in confusion, she didn’t recognize the room that she was in, nor did she see Veronica. “Veronica, why the hell are you hiding, haul your ass out here.” she said, smirking to herself. A strangled groaning noise came from a corner, and upon further investigation it was revealed that it had come from Veronica who was curled into a fetal position in the corner, sobbing quietly. “Well, well, well. What do we have here?” Chandler asked, with venom in her voice “Precious little Veronica crying in the corner like a little girl, boo hoo”. “Fuck off, Heather” Veronica said her voice dull and emotionless except for the slight croak from her dry throat. Heather was taken aback at Veronica’s tone; usually she was full of attitude. “... Veronica, what is this place?” she asked after a solid two minutes of silence “...” Veronica looked up, her face, tear stained, puffy, and dirty “Heather do I LOOK like I’m up to dealing with your bullshit right now?” she snapped. “You look like hell” Heather admitted “Well maybe it’s because that’s where I AM ‘Heather’” she retorted, spitting out Heather’s name full of attitude.

Heather was shocked by Veronica’s state… She wasn’t normally this spiteful, and she definitely had something wrong with her, by the way she carried herself. Heather looked around the room trying to figure out what was wrong, when she saw the bed… “...!” she said as something clicked in her mind. “Veronica… this isn’t… no, what… happened, who did this to you” she said, her face aghast. Veronica said nothing, she just lowered her head onto her knees and gripped them hard enough that her nails were digging into her skin. Heather continued, having come to the conclusion on suspects she might know of. “I thought trench coat psycho was dead…?” she said, cautiously “Ha!” Veronica snapped, her voice dripping with venom “I wish, He apparently survived, and thinks he can ‘fix me’. Like I could ever love that psycho again…”

Heather was horrified at what she was seeing in front of her, one of her best friends had been kidnapped and raped by the same man who attempted to blow up an entire school to win her back. No, no, no this was NOT good. She had to do something, but what? She couldn’t interact with anything except to talk to Veronica, Kurt, and Ram. She was as powerless as any of the adults to stop any of it… but maybe, if she could get a message to her fellow heathers she could help Veronica survive this. But how… Heather sat next to Veronica, trying her best to comfort her while she tried to think of a way to get her out of here.

Westerburg High 2:39- three days after the kidnapping  
Heather Duke had been trying to pin down Veronica for about three days after she raced past her in the hallway. After seeing NO TRACE of her, even in the classes they shared, she decided to confront McNamara and Martha about it. “Hey, Heather.” Duke called out. “What do you want Heather?” McNamara asked. “To know if either of you have seen Veronica… I haven’t seen her at all since she ran past us in the hallway and thought you girls might know if she was sick or something.” she told them, calmly. “I haven’t seen, or heard from Veronica since then either.” Martha admitted, “We were actually planning on going to her place in just a bit to check on her. Can you drive?” She asked Duke. “Sure, I guess.” Duke said, getting into her jeep “Get in” McNamara and Martha got into the Jeep and Duke drove to Veronica’s house, pulling into the empty spot on the driveway. The trio went up to the door and rang the doorbell. They heard someone say “Coming” from inside, and after a minute Mrs. Sawyer opened the door.

“Oh, hello girls.” she said to the three high schoolers standing on her porch. “Would you like to come in?” “Sure” Martha responded, so they all sat down on the couch in the living room, and Mrs. Sawyer poured them some tea. “So what brings you girls down here?” she asked, taking a sip of her tea. “Well, we were hoping to find Veronica down here.” McNamara said. Mrs. Sawyer paused for a moment “... Veronica? No she left about three days ago, now.” she said, shaking her head, “Here, see for yourselves”. The three girls looked at the passage in the diary that was being held out to them. Martha and McNamara exchanged a look of fear. “Tha-that’s impossible!” Martha said, stuttering in her panic. Duke and Mrs. Sawyer both looked over at her in confusion. “Why’s that?” Mrs. Sawyer asked, with concern on her face at how fearful the look on Martha’s face was. “Because Jason Dean is supposed to be dead… but the body! It was never foun- OH MY GOD HEATHER!”. “What!?” they both said at once. “This means he’s not dead…. And he has her….”

McNamara’s face paled as she nodded in understanding “God help Veronica” Mrs. Sawyer and Heather Duke looked at each other quizzically Mrs. Sawyer, however had a look of massive concern on her face. “What’s wrong….?” she asked Martha. McNamara looked up “If we’re right about where she is then she’s in BIG TROUBLE” she said gravely. Duke was trying to understand, “What does psycho trench coat kid have to do with any of this?” she asked. “Heather… we’ll talk later, Mrs. Sawyer, please call the police IMMEDIATELY Veronica’s life and sanity may very well depend on it.” Martha said “McNamara, C’mon I need you to help me look at something.” Martha and McNamara went upstairs, and Duke followed them, as a panicking Mrs. Sawyer called the cops on JD.

Martha led the way to Veronica's room, and the Heathers followed behind her. When Martha opened the door, her eyes widened and filled with tears as she saw a doll hanging from her neck by a piece of yarn. The doll had a shirt on that matched the one Martha had worn herself the day she attempted to end her own life. Curiously, there was a piece of paper taped to the doll. Martha reached forward, and removed it. Upon unfolding it, the note read, in Veronica's handwriting "Recognize the handwriting?” Martha paused, her suspicions confirmed and a single tear ran down her face as she realized what this meant for Veronica. Heather Duke, thoroughly confused by this whole ordeal spoke up, "Why are you two giving each other such cryptic looks? Is there something I'm missing?”

Martha looked over at Heather Duke and said "Heather.... there's so much to explain, but for right now you just need to trust us. All you need to know is that Veronica did NOT leave on her own, she was kidnapped and is in mortal peril, for all we know her clock is running out already." Heather Duke took a backwards step, "Wait... do you mean to tell me that weirdo has her, and that they could kill her?" she said in disbelief. "Basically" McNamara said, "We're doing everything we can though, we're almost positive we know who has her.”

Duke gulped and took a step towards the door, "Why is it always the queen bees?" she asked. "Suddenly, I don't feel safe as a popular girl anymore." she added, her face filled with panic at the possibility of being next on the kill list. The three girls all looked each other in the eyes, and nodded. "We have to get her back." McNamara said "But how?" asked Duke "We'll... find a way" answered Martha. The three girls went downstairs to join the Sawyers and try and help the police, "Let the hunt begin..." they all thought.

*Westerburg High - Saturday, 3:30 pm*

 

JD toured the school, because it was a weekend and no one would be there. He looked around the places where the thermals were. They were still there, but inactive... he'd have to reactivate them this Thursday, when he would eliminate the next threat to his beautiful bride's recovery. Her 'friends', he realized that in order for her to truly recover he'd have to remove Westerburg’s talons that had dug into her brain. What better way to do that than to do what he'd been meant to, and wipe Westerburg high, and all the people in it, off the face of the globe. "Veronica my darling, I love you so much that the entire universe conspired to help me find you" he said, quoting the alchemist.

JD snuck into his room, not alerting his father, heck his dad probably hadn't even noticed he was missing yet. He went to his explosives kit over in the corner, and retrieved it. “Sorry Veronica, but it's for your own good. You won't be there to stop me this time.” He snuck back out of his room, but not before refilling his gun, and grabbing extra ammo for the road. He would probably never see this room again. Right before he left, he saw an old trench coat of his: one he had outgrown... He took it; he could plant it in the boiler room alongside one of Veronica's jackets so that the police would think that they were dead.

He left his room, and headed towards the seven eleven to go get a slushie. The first thing he saw, opening the door, was a package of BQ corn nuts. Still sitting right where Veronica had left them the night they met. He scooped them up and bought them alongside two slushies, and headed home. He was willing to bet Veronica would get a kick out of these snacks.

Veronica was sitting next to Heather, having just finished filling her in on what had transpired while she was away. Heather's face was filled with disgust, rage, sadness, and fear. She feared for Veronica's sanity while she was being kept prisoner here by this psychopathic maniac. Veronica was terrified about the future. No one knew where she was, no one would think to look for her, she was trapped, and no one was coming to her rescue.

A few stray tears rolled down Veronica's face as she thought forward to the future... or did she even have one anymore? She was questioning the time she had left, when she heard footsteps above her, the sound of something hitting the floor, and then the basement door opening. She turned to look to Heather for help, but Heather had made herself invisible. "Keep strong Veronica" she said "He can't keep you trapped here forever." Then, just as JD came into sight, Heather was gone.

Veronica glared up at her captor, trying her best to burn a hole in his head with her gaze... it wasn't working. JD saw her tear stained face and came over "Veronica, why have you been crying?" he asked wiping her face with his free hand "Surely you must know it was all for you." he quoted trying to lighten the mood. However this gesture made her even angrier, "Do NOT bring literature into this!" she practically screamed. He had already ruined some of her favorite works of literature with this charade, and she would let it go no further.

 

JD held out a slushie for Veronica to take, she reluctantly took it out of his hand and eyed it suspiciously before giving it a light sniff, then a sip. "Really now, Darling?" JD said, amused "Do you really think I'd poison you after taking such care to not hurt you?” Veronica just drank her slushie, ignoring him. "Well I brought you something to eat" he said, reaching into one of his many pockets, and revealing the package of corn nuts. Veronica flinched, and her eyes welled up with tears at the sight of the snack.

"What's the matter sweetheart?" JD asked a smirk evident on his face. "I thought you wanted the BQ kind" he said in innocent tone of voice. Veronica wanted to scream at him, oh lord did she want to do that so bad. But she couldn't, she was too upset about the fact that he thought bringing a slushie, and then a bad memory as a "Joke" would make her forgive him. She could never forgive what had transpired in these last few months, these last few days, least of all. She glared at the snack he held out, before however reluctantly taking it. She was rather hungry after all.

"That's the spirit." commended JD "Isn't it easier when you don't resist everything I try and do for you?", “Screw you” Veronica said. “Isn’t it enough that you trapped me here and used me for your own sick pleasures? Can’t you just leave me alone!” JD blinked, this wasn’t how her recovery was supposed to go. “Now now darling,” He said, “You aren’t yourself, but don’t worry. I’m working hard to fix you. You’ll be back to normal in no time.”

Veronica had a sudden urge to laugh at this absurdity. He honestly thought that the fact she no longer loved him was due to her ‘not being herself’, yeah right. Veronica was saner right now than she had been the entire time she had been with JD, wasn’t she? Not finding an answer she opened the package of corn nuts and started to eat them.

JD watched Veronica eat the snacks he had gotten for her. He honestly thought she would find the joke behind them amusing rather than the rude response he had received instead. He decided that, in order to fix her faster he’d have to move her out of Ohio faster. Luckily, there was only one last order of business he had to attend to before moving her out of this toxic place. Once she was removed from the poison she was bound to fight it off faster. He stood up and said “I have some things to do, so you just sit tight down here Darling. I’ll be back before you know it and then you can tell me all about your day.” He turned and went out the door at the top of the stairs.


	6. An Unexpected Addition

Veronica wondered what there was JD needed to do. However, deciding she didn’t want to know, she started back on her meal of a slushie and corn nuts. Heather, seeing JD was gone, reappeared. Seeing the package she whispered “Well fuck me gently with a chainsaw” under her breath. It was worse than she thought, not only was he sexually abusing her, he was mentally abusing her too by bombarding her with bad memories.

“Well now Veronica.” Heather said. “He couldn’t have hurt you with a snack like that if you hadn’t killed me.” Veronica looked up at Heather. “Heather, I don’t know if I ever DID tell you this but I didn’t mean to kill you.” “Yeah, right” said Heather said “I’m SURE the drain cleaner just magically ended up in my cup” she said, coughing up some drain cleaner to prove her point. “No, honest” Veronica said “I made a prairie oyster to give you, but JD poured drain cleaner in the same kind of cup. He kissed me and distracted me into picking up the wrong cup.” Heather looked at her skeptically. “Uh huh, and then you ‘accidentally’ wrote a fake suicide note in my handwriting” she said, rolling her eyes. Veronica’s eyes filled with tears, her face falling into a despaired look.

“I did write the note, Heather. But I was panicking, you were dead and I didn’t know what to do! I lost control of the situation, and JD told me to write the note or else I’d go to prison. My fingerprints were all over the cup, and everyone had seen our falling out at the party the night before.” Veronica buried her face in her hands “He killed you, and I covered it up, He lied to me about the bullets that killed Kurt and Ram and I believed him. I tried to leave him, and he tried to blow up the school. I can’t get rid of him Heather… He has me wrapped up in this fucked up spider web of his.” She was holding back tears at this point.

Heather just sat there, her mouth a perfect o. She knew that Veronica and JD’s relationship had been fucked up but this… this was a whole other level. There was one thing Veronica was right about however, if JD wanted to, he could frame her for everything. “Veronica…” Heather said, trying to register everything that she had just learned “You are in WAY over your head…” Heather’s mind was racing. Trying to find some way, any way to pull Veronica out of this situation unharmed. “I need you to calm down; you need your wits about more than ever right now. We can’t have even a single lapse in your defenses, or he could get to you.”

Veronica looked up at Heather, her face a total mess from all the emotional chaos that JD had wreaked upon her in the last few days. “Heather, I can’t let him in anymore… If he gets into my head, I’m done for. It’s game over for me.” Heather looked at Veronica, and her eyes filled with tears, this girl was fighting, against all odds. She could only hope that she would continue to fight until she could get some help, and escape this hell. “Stay strong.” she said, giving a sad smile to Veronica. “You’re the only one who can fight this demon.”

*JD’s POV*

JD was sitting in the chair at a (slightly) unsteady old table. He pulled out his explosives kit, looking over the contents to make sure that everything was still in order. There was only enough to make one bomb… He only had one shot at this, and he wasn't about to throw it away. He got to work, measuring out the gunpowder, and adding it to the canisters. This time he made certain that there was no off button on the bomb, no repeats, no mistakes, no way to postpone it. Westerburg high was going to blow on Thursday. He grinned sadistically to himself, he knew exactly what he’d get Veronica as a present when he got back to her afterwards… after all, she needed something to do while he was away, didn’t she?

He checked the bomb, when he turned it on it was set to go off in five minutes. That would give him plenty of time to get out. He checked, and rechecked, his bag. He needed to make sure that there was no way it would turn on in his bag. He couldn’t afford to lose his life, not now that he had his darling Veronica to come home to. After packing the bomb into the bag he remembered the too small trench coat he had taken from his old room, he placed that in the bag as well as one of Veronica’s blazers. He never liked that particular one anyway. After finishing up, he headed back downstairs, he DID promise to ask Veronica about her day.

At the door to the basement he heard Veronica’s voice… She sounded like she was talking to someone, opening the door quietly he could hear her a little clearer. He couldn’t tell what she was saying but heard the word ‘Heather’ his eyes widened in confusion, why would she be talking about the Heathers? He closed the door silently behind him and crept downstairs. Then a step creaked under his foot and he swung around the corner to look into the room, but Veronica was alone in the room. No sign of anyone else either. Everything was just as he had left it aside from the empty food containers where the corn nuts and slushie had been.

He was confused, but thinking she must’ve been talking to herself went up to her. “Good afternoon sweetheart how was your day?” he asked “Fuck you” Veronica said. “Well, well” JD said, “I brought you a slushie and some corn nuts and ask you about your day and you just pay me back in rudeness?” Veronica didn’t give him the satisfaction of a response. “Well anyway mine was productive, thank you for asking” he said pointedly. “It’s getting late, come to bed” he added after checking his watch, 10:00 pm it said. Geez he spent more time on the bomb than he had thought.

Veronica just sat in the corner, looking away from him; he sighed and picked her up in his arms, dropping her on the bed. “Why do you want to sleep on the floor?” he asked. Veronica didn’t respond so he climbed in bed next to her and gathered her up in his arms. She tried to pry his arms off of her, but it was no use. He had her trapped. He hugged her to his chest. “I need to keep the precious things closest” he whispered in her ear. “Get Off Me.” She growled, “Come on darling, you know I can’t do that.” He responded “Now go to sleep” he said, closing his eyes. Veronica wouldn’t sleep… not while this MONSTER was holding her like some teddy bear or something. But eventually, the fatigue of not having slept in two days caught up to her and she knocked out.

JD got up early; he needed to get a head start on today. No redoes, today he would erase Westerburg high off the maps. He looked over at his precious Veronica and smiled. Soon she’d be set free from the binding Westerburg had tightened onto her mind. He planted a kiss on her forehead, when he got back they could leave, but there was no point in waking her now. He gathered his bag from the floor, and changed his clothes. He didn’t need to be stopped today because of someone who realized that he shouldn’t be there.

He gathered all his supplies and headed out the door, taking special care to lock it behind him, still. He needed Veronica to still be there when he got back. As he headed toward the school he smiled to himself. Not a single problem could be had today. There would be no one else to look for his dearest, Veronica. His smile turned sadistic, no one left to look for anyone at all.

*Heather Duke’s POV*

I was running! Running, as fast as I could… why am I running? I look behind myself to see and the second I see the reason I put on a massive burst of speed. “AGH!” I shrieked, tripping over a root. Before I got up I noticed a piece of blue fabric… It looked suspiciously like a piece of Veronica’s blazer. No time for cryptic messages! I had to- *bang* I cried out in pain, and hit the ground clutching my shot leg. He came up to me. “Why thank you Miss Duke, you’ve done me a tremendous favor, even if you don’t know it… unfortunately, you won’t be living long enough to learn what it was.” He raised the gun to point at my head. I was frozen. *bang* everything went black…

Heather Duke bolted upright in bed; breathing heavily… thank goodness it was just a dream! She looked over at her alarm clock, CRAP she was SO late! She’d only be there in time for the pep rally if she was lucky. She hoped she could find Martha and McNamara there… She wasn’t sure why but the dream seemed a little TOO real, maybe they’d know something about it. She got dressed quickly, and grabbed her keys; she’d grab her books later. There were more important things to attend to. When she got to school the parking lot was full so she parked on the other side of the woods.

After looking around, she decided that the quickest route was to cut through the woods. She walked as fast as she could, stopping to look at nothing, but at the same time seeing everything, or at all least the wrong things. That’s when she saw it, the popped up root she had tripped over in her dream. She saw a splash of bright color out the corner of her eye and wanted to scream. Next to the root was a scrap of fabric, one torn from Veronica’s blazer, in the exact same place her dream had shown it as well.

Looking around frantically, she began to run. If the torn fabric was there then… NO! She wasn’t even going to consider it, she exited the forest, looking much the same as she had walking in, apart from her being slightly shaken… and she couldn’t quite get rid of the feeling she was being watched.

JD watched Heather exit the forest. He had toyed with the idea of taking care of her then and there but decided against it. She would be taken care of with the rest in the explosion. Besides, writing another suicide note would just be a waste of time when he had one with her name on it anyway. Waiting for her to enter the school, he crept out of the woods and made a beeline for the kitchen entrance. Lunch was already over for the day and no one would be in there.

He snuck out of the kitchen and mingled in with the crowd, heading for the gym. Breaking off from the crowd, however when he reached the doors to the boiler room. He walked down the stairs at a leisurely pace; he didn’t need to worry about time or someone finding him.

Martha & McNamara

Martha spotted an odd looking kid in the crowd as she and Heather were heading to their lockers to retrieve their things. Martha watched him out of curiosity when she saw him break away from the crowd, she didn’t recognize him… maybe he was new? Then she let out a gasp of surprise and horror when he turned to go into the boiler room. She had seen who it was under the brim of that hat! “McNamara, we need to go NOW! No time for going to our lockers.” Martha said, grabbing Heather’s wrist. "Martha, what's going on!?!" McNamara practically shouted as Martha ran down the hallway with her in tow. "JD is in the building with us, Heather. We NEED to get out." Heather adopted a panicked look and started running as fast as she could toward the exit with Martha. The girls tried to open the door, but it was locked. So they ran to the next one, their footsteps echoing down the empty hallways as they heard the ticking of a clock in their minds.This door, thankfully was open. Heather and Martha ran out, into the street.

JD had just finished attaching the bomb to the pillar, and pulled the coats out of his bag, he also pulled out his trademark trench coat, pulling it on and stowing away the baseball cap. No one would be around to see him anyway, well no one that had time to call the cops at least. He planted the coats back behind some paint cans so that it would look like they were hiding out down there, afterwards he went up to the bomb and hit the button. Running up the stairs, out the door, and through the exit and he just barely managed to make it to the edge of the forest before-*BOOM!!*- He could feel the heat of the explosion on the back of his neck, he smiled, almost giddy with his sick joy.

Martha and McNamara couldn't help, but watch with tears of horror in their eyes as their school, all their teachers, their peers, everything was obliterated in front of them. The smoke from the explosion was thick enough to cut with a knife. The awful, sooty, smell stung their eyes, and caused them to cough violently. They could feel the heat from the flames- from their friend's burning pyre.Why had he done it!? What was the end goal of killing all these people? Martha and McNamara watched in silent vigil, tears running down their soot stained faces.

Veronica and Heather were sitting together, Veronica had woken up and JD was missing. She was terrified of what he might be doing that he would forgo a chance to torment her about it. Suddenly there was a loud noise, an awful earsplitting explosion that caused Veronica to go into a shock. "N-no... he didn't! NO!" She screamed, hoping with all her heart that she was right. Heather looked on, confused as to what was happening. There was an odd, groaning noise coming from the next room. "Wha?" Veronica said, picking herself up to walk over and investigate. Heather simply sat down on the bed, figuring that whatever it was. It wasn't important.

Duke's ears were ringing, where was she? It got all loud and hot, and then.... She wasn't sure what "then" was? Was it now? Now, she was in a very dark room. She heard a door open and stood up, turning around to see who, or what it was. Her eyes widened in shock at who she saw. "Veronica!?" she squeaked "We've been looking all over for you, where have you-" Suddenly she noticed what a mess Veronica was, from her matted hair, to her tear stained, anguished face, and her stained blazer. "What happened to you?" she asked, not sure what to make of it. "Heather..." Veronica said quietly, almost mournfully as she fell onto her knees "Oh my god, Heather. What happened!" Heather Chandler came over, "Veronica why are you saying my na- Well fuck me gently with a chainsaw" She said, noticing Duke standing in the room.

Veronica's face was turning red, very red! Her hands clenched into fists. "I'm Going To KILL Him!" she said. Chandler looked over at Veronica, decided that it wasn't a good time to interrupt, and refocused her attention on Duke. Duke was very confused by this whole ordeal. "Heather!" she exclaimed, unsure of what was going on. "I tried to keep you out of the forest you idiot. Did you have a brain tumor for breakfast?" she said, with mild annoyance on her face at the ignored warning. "Nothing happened in the forest..." Duke said "Everything changed while I was in the gy- Wait... how'd you know about my dream?" she asked skeptically.

"Because I gave you the vision, Heather" Chandler responded "I knew that Westerburg was next on Psycho's kill list, and was TRYING to keep you alive. But look where it got you instead" Duke looked at Chandler, confused "You... actually did something to help me?" she asked "I'm so stupid! I went to tell McNamara and Martha about it all!" Chandler gave Duke an deadpan look. "Really, Heather?" she said, "Wait, where ARE McNamara and Martha?" Duke shrugged "Beats me, they probably got out" Suddenly, there was the sound of footsteps up above their heads, Veronica froze, a door opened. "I'm back Ronnie, didja miss me?" Said JD.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Misleading title is misleading, no?


	7. That of Death and Disbelief

Veronica turned, slowly to face JD, her eyes screaming bloody murder. "YOU... YOU BLEW UP THE F*CKING SCHOOL!?!" she screamed at him, her fists starting to turn her fingers white. "Tsk tsk" sighed JD, "Now, now Veronica, we mustn't yell. It's not very mature is it?" he said in mock exasperation. Heather Duke, looking up from her argument with Chandler froze. "H-Heather..." she said, pointing at JD. Chandler turned around, and saw JD approaching Veronica, also seeing the pissed A.F. look on her face she decided to let psycho trench coat have his own funeral. Duke however, was having none of this, "Veronica, what are you doing? RUN!" she shouted. Veronica turned around, to glare at Duke, that one split second was all JD needed. He leapt forward and grabbed Veronica around the waist. "Shut up, Heather." he said, grinning at his own joke. He was struggling to keep ahold of Veronica's waist with only his one arm. Duke's hair started smoking, and her eyes turned to burning coals. "What. Did. You. Just. Say?" She asked, her voice soft and calm, making it all the more dangerous. JD simply ignored her, dragging Veronica towards a bag he had previously dropped on the floor.

Holding Veronica with one arm and reaching into the bag with the other JD grabbed the bottle of sedatives that he had bought. "Oh no you don't!" Duke snapped, rushing up to JD and attempting to knock the bottle out of his hands, taken aback when her hand simply phased through it. "What the-" She said, trying unsuccessfully to beat up JD. Veronica was, however, a lot more successful when she elbowed J.D. in the chest. "OOMPH!" He grunted in surprise. "That's it, Ronnie, time out for you... how about, a nap?" he said, shifting her around and opening the bottle of sedatives. Veronica's eyes widened as she struggled against his arm, trying to get in another hit. JD, having expected it this time, caught her arms and turned her around. "C'mon now Ronnie, it won't be so bad. Just get some rest." He said, trying to get the pill through her clenched teeth. 

Chandler, getting sick of Duke's pathetic attempts to attack JD, grabbed Duke's shoulder. "Heather, love. You can't touch anything, remember? You're dead now." Duke's eyes widened, her breath becoming faster, and her hair lit on fire. "YOU F*CKING KILLED ME!?! YOU GODDAMN ASSHOLE!!!" She screamed, with murder in her voice. Veronica took advantage of the momentary distraction to slip under JD's arm and rush behind the boxes in the dark room she had found Heather in. "Damnit." JD muttered under his breath, stepping into the room to look for Veronica. Chandler looked at Duke, "Good job." she said, mildly impressed. Duke just saw red, her vision blocked by the rage and contempt she harbored for this demonic man. Suddenly, the drawl of a tired, and overall none very appealing voice filled the room, "What's going on?" said Kurt. "Yeah, why are you in here Heather?" Ram asked. Chandler facepalmed, "Great, now the room is really full." she said, mentally rolling her eyes at their ignorance. "You two shut up!" she said, "I'm trying to focus on what's going on." Suddenly they heard Veronica scream from the room next to them, and then it became muffled, and they heard JD say "Just swallow it already, Ronnie. It'll be over faster that way."

Chandler groaned, she had wasted the opportunity to help Veronica on these two numbskulled boys."Would you two just go back to my place?" she said through clenched teeth. "No way!" Kurt said, "Yeah, we want to know who's getting blown off in that room over there." Ram added. "Punch it in!" They both said, doing a fist bump, and practically tripping over themselves to get into the room. Once in there however, the scene they were greeted by was much different then they had imagined. JD was holding Veronica's mouth shut, trying to get her to swallow the sedative pill. "C'mon Ronnie!" he said. "You'll feel much better when you've taken your medicine." JD, having succeeded in forcing Veronica to swallow the pill, picked her up and laid her down on the bed. "I'll be back for you in a bit, Darling." he said, "I just need to pack our things into the car." he got up, and grabbed his duffel bag, bringing it toward the staircase. Once the ghosts heard him leave, They immediately tried to get Veronica to spit out the drug. In the end, it was Chandler's blue tongue, and glossed over, bleeding eyes that got her to puke it up. Veronica coughed, and said in a weak, tired voice "Thanks guys, I'm positive that wherever he's taking me, that I don't want to go." JD came back into the room for Veronica's bag and saw the puke on the mattress and Veronica, slowly getting up. He sighed, exasperated and crushed up a pill, and added it to a bottle of water that he then forced her to drink.

"You've had your glass of water, now go to bed sweetheart." He said, much like a parent would say to their procrastinating child. Kurt and Ram were infuriated at the way he was treating her, and how he had pissed off Heather Duke. "Let's kick his ass!" Ram said to Kurt. "C'mon, man, we're seniors! We're too old for that crap!" Kurt said. "Dude! This is for the babe!" said Ram. "Okay, for once you actually have a point." Kurt shrugged. "Shit, Heather's rubbing off on me." "I forgive you, bro." Ram said. So they ran up to him, and started to throw punches and kicks that did nothing but phase through him, and ruin their self esteem. "What the hell, man!" Kurt said, punching himself in the arm, "OW, SHIT!" He shouted, holding his newly bruising arm. Chandler rolled her eyes at the idiocy of the two jocks, "You two have no excuse!" She said. "You've been dead for like, a month now. You should know better than to try that." Ram looked at Chandler, his eyes in shock, "Wait, does that mean that we like, can't touch anything?" he asked, dumbfounded by this development. "Yes, of COURSE it does, Ram! Geez it's like you two haven't even tried to do it yet." she snapped, annoyed by their sheer idiocy. "Well… We've been staying in the woods, mostly. So, we really haven't." Kurt said. Duke tapped Chandler on the shoulder, "WHAT, HEATHER!?" Chandler shouted, in her irritation at her fellow ghosts. "This might be a bad time to tell you, but Veronica, JD , and Veronica's bag all went missing while you three were arguing." she said, fidgeting nervously.

"Wait, WHAT!" Chandler shouted, looking around. Sure enough, no signs of JD or Veronica were anywhere to be seen. "Heather! Why didn't you tell me that he was taking her away!? Do you WANT him to have her!?!?!" She said, her expression a mix between pained and pissed. She'd become far too fond of Veronica in the last week and a half to lose her now. "I didn't notice they were gone until just now, I thought you were watching her!" Duke said, looking Chandler straight in the eyes. "Wait, you mean none of you saw JD walk out of the room with Veronica? That's hilarious!" Kurt said, "They left like, ten minutes ago while you were arguing with Ram." Heather; not for the first time, and most certainly not the last time, facepalmed. She couldn't believe the kind of idiocy that was being spewed out of Kurt's mouth. "Kurt... WHY THE FUCK DIDN'T YOU SAY ANYTHING!?!?!?" She shouted, her voice echoing off the empty walls of the house and causing everyone but her to wince and cover their ears. "You said it yourself, we're ghosts. WE can't actually DO anything about it." Kurt said, looking unsure of himself all of a sudden.

Chandler said nothing, just walked up and squared him in the jaw. "AWWWW!!! HEATHER, MY PERFECTLY HANDSOME FACE, WHAT THE FUCK?!!!" Kurt yelled. "I THOUGHT YOU SAID WE COULDN'T DO ANYTHING TO HIM!!!!!" "WE CAN'T, YOU IDIOT!!!! BUT THAT DOESN'T MEAN I CAN'T DO ANYTHING TO YOU!!!!!" Chandler yelled. "BUT WHY?!!!! WHAT DOES IT MATTER, WE CAN'T HELP HER!!!!!" "YES, WE CAN. I'M NOT LETTING PSYCHO TRENCHCOAT KID HAVE HER MIND ALL SCREWED UP LIKE YOURS!!! SHE'S A HEATHER, AND HEATHERS HAVE TO KEEP IT TOGETHER!!!!!!!!!" Chandler then stormed out of the room, before coming back and grabbing Duke's arm. "Come on, Heather. We are the only two ghosts who have enough of a brain to do anything." "What can we even do?" Duke asked, as she and Chandler ascended the steps. This caused Chandler to stop. "Shit, I don't know." She said. "We can at least stay with Veronica."

Then, Duke suddenly put her hand to her temple. "You do that, Heather. I need to go lay down." Heather was about to yell at Duke to stop bitching and moaning, but she saw by the look on Duke's face that she was undergoing an existential crisis at the moment. "Yeah…" She said, cringing. "You do that, Heather." Duke disappeared, probably to go flop down on her bed. Chandler then teleported to her main haunt.


	8. "Family Road Trip"

An old station wagon was driving down a faded road away from Sherwood, Ohio. The driver, a tall, dark haired, young man of about 18 kept looking over his shoulder. No one noticed, or if they did, they did nothing. There was a passenger in the car. A brunette girl of about 17 was asleep, buckled into the backseat. No one noticed; no one cared. For them it was just a normal day, get off work and go home. For the boy in the front seat it was a beautiful day, he was finally leaving Sherwood Ohio behind, and Veronica was coming with him. For the girl however, it was one of the worst days of her life. She had no say in where she was going, not even any say in if she was in the car or not. Her friends, her home, her family, they were all behind her now. Dead or alive, she didn’t know. Nothing outside of the bubble that Jason Dean had placed her in had reached her since about a week and a half ago. The worst day in her life, but the best day in his, non disputable for either party but that’s just the way life is.

In the backseat the girl stirred, and said “heather…” in her sleep. JD glanced up at the rear-view mirror. First checking the road, and then looking at her, his beautiful angel, his darling wife, Veronica Sawyer. Veronica was dreaming, he wondered if it was about him. “I wish I could see inside that pretty little head of yours” he said to himself more than anyone else. “I’d reach in and fix whatever those assholes did to you that made you so blind to our love.” Veronica simply slept on, oblivious to the world around her; he had made sure she was sound asleep. She would need to be; otherwise she’d cause a fuss and get them both into trouble. He couldn’t have that, so off to sleep she went. He smiled to himself at the reassuring sight of her, safely buckled into the car where he could see her, and then glanced to the road behind him again. Still nothing, which meant nobody, had suspected that the fake evidence he left at the sight of the explosion was fake then. He was free from becoming wanted for that little incident, and Veronica was free from the toxic people that had blinded her. He refocused on the road, “Not long now, Ronnie. We’ll be out of Ohio soon.”

  
*In Veronica’s dream*

  
Veronica was running through a sea of people in the gym of Westerburg High. She fought through the crowd endlessly but no matter how many people she avoided the crowd just went on. She had to get to the boiler room, she had to save everyone. The crowd continued on, the endless sea of people seeming to extend with each step she took. Suddenly she started to see some familiar faces. Faces she had hoped and prayed would never be here at the pep rally, she tried to go to them but people would just crowd around them and push her away. There was no hope; she would never get to the door. She fell to her knees, putting her face in her hands when she felt a hand on her shoulder. JD was behind her, holding a gun to Martha’s head. “M-Martha!” she stuttered, “JD! WHY!?” JD just smiled sympathetically and said “Darling, I can’t have you running away or stopping me anymore, if you come with me, she lives. If not, she dies and I bring you with me anyway.” Veronica paled, torn between reaching to Martha to grab her, and just running away entirely in the hopes that JD would leave Martha alone to pursue her. “Tick tock Darling. I don’t have all day you know.” Veronica gulped; Martha had nothing to do with this. Veronica couldn’t just leave her, besides she knew that if she ran that JD would find a way to get back at her, or worse; Martha. Veronica paused; she looked at Martha who was trembling like a leaf, shaking her head at Veronica. She didn’t deserve this. Veronica opened her mouth to respond right before the scene in front of her changed.

  
Heather Chandler stood in front of her in a large blank, white area. “Heather…?” Veronica asked looking around herself, confused as to where the pep rally had gone. “Veronica, listen. You NEED to wake up.” Chandler said, urgently. “Wait… then JD DOESN’T have Martha!” she sighed in relief, “I was so-.” “VERONICA FOCUS!” Chandler yelled. “Of COURSE JD doesn’t have Martha, he thinks she’s dead!” Veronica looked at Chandler, finally quiet. “Ok, now that you’re actually listening. You need to wake up Veronica! JD put you in his car, and is driving out of Ohio! This is your last chance to get away from him without help.” Veronica looked at Chandler. “Heather… You DO realize that I’m not sleeping of my own accord. JD drugged me; I don’t think that even now that I’m aware I’m dreaming I could wake up.

  
Chandler looked at Veronica then she opened her mouth, and closed it again. “Wow, the demon queen of high school, at a loss for words. Someone call the news channel” Chandler was not amused, “Really Veronica? I come all the way out here to help you and you just make a joke at my expense?” Veronica looked embarrassed; I only wanted to lighten the mood Heather.” Chandler looked at Veronica “I can only imagine what’s going on in your head right now that despite the fact you’re being torn away from your home and your entire school was blown up, everyone inside murdered. That you still think about telling a joke to lighten the mood.” A shade of sadness momentarily covered Veronica’s face before she banished it to the back of her mind. “Heather, I only want to be happy right now. JD can’t get to me in here and so I will make jokes and try my best to stay sane.” She straightened her back, her face becoming like stone. “I will defend myself and become stone when I am awake and he is around, I will release my frustration when he pushes me too far, but I will NOT let him take control of how I feel when I am in my own dreams. He can’t touch me, here so I am safe.” She said, with a sense of finality.

  
Chandler felt an urge to applaud the strength of this person who when any normal person was faced with this situation would’ve sat in the corner and cried, tried her best to be normal and free even if it was only when she was asleep. She didn’t applaud Veronica however, because if she applauded her then she would’ve felt too safe. Not even dreams were fully incorruptible if someone tried hard enough. “Veronica, you listened to me.” Chandler said, a little surprised at this. “Well, yeah Heather. If advice makes sense you don’t just throw it away because you don’t like where it comes from.” Chandler nodded; Veronica had a level head, even in a time like this. That was serious fortitude. However Chandler was starting to become anxious. She had no idea where JD was, no idea where he was taking them either. “Veronica… you know what, I think I should probably go. I’ll just leave you to your dreams I guess.” Veronica turned to look at Chandler, but she was gone.

 

JD glanced over at a sign as it passed by at the side of the road. "Welcome to Indiana" he read aloud "Ya hear that Ronnie!? We made it!" he said excitedly. "So, you've finally gotten away from the Ohio police, huh? Are you proud of yourself 'JD'?!" Said, a voice from the backseat. "Hello, Heather" said JD without turning to look at the spirit "What could've possibly possessed you to seek out my lowly presence?" he sighed, exasperated at the thought of being in the same car as the former queen bee. "I came over to tell you, She's not going to give up. I'm not sure what kind of game you're playing at, but Veronica is a strong soul. She's going to fight to her last breath." Chandler said, with a sense of finality. JD paused, then he burst out laughing. Chandler looked at him, unimpressed. "What's so funny about that?" she asked, almost bored by his reaction. "You REALLY think that I'm playing some sort of game!? That's where you're wrong. I'm not trying to play at anything, heck I'm not even trying to fight her. I'm simply taking her to safe place to recover. YOU on the other hand need to stop it with your little 'visits' they aren't helping." Heather looked at him, her eyes narrowed. "What Recovery?" she asked, skeptically. "Don't play dumb!" said JD, a momentary flash of irritation crossing his face. "I know you did something her mind! She can't see our love anymore, I'm just trying to reverse the damage that you and and the rest of Westerburg did to her mind!" Chandler looked at him incredulously. "You CAN'T be serious!?" she said, her voice filled with shock and disbelief, and almost amusement. "You think that what you're doing is HELPING her!? Try mental anguish you sicko! She HATES you and all you're doing is making it harder for yourself. I almost feel bad for you, oh wait! I DON'T because YOU are a TWISTED FUCK!" She shouted, getting angrier with every word. "How would you know, you cast her out before you even really knew her!" He said, not skipping a beat "I WAS HER BEST FRI-", "Do you REALLY think so Ms. Chandler?" JD asked, his face betraying nothing at what he felt. "I may not know much about friendship but I'm pretty sure that best friends don't cast each other out because they refused to let you humiliate their other friends and then got sick. Might I add that YOU Ms. Chandler were right there when she was doing everything that led to her being sick. Best friends don't let each other overdo it like that, but NO! YOU cast her out, so she came to ME! I'M the one who made her feel better and YOU ended up DEAD! Now who's the better friend Ms. Chandler?" JD said, finishing with a smirk on his face.

 

Chandler saw red, "You literally kidnapped her, killed everyone in her entire school and are taking her out of her home state against her will, and STILL think you're doing what's right! What, is she just going to magically forgive you because you're keeping her away from society? Yeah right!" Chandler said, looking over at the unconscious girl next to her. "Now who's losing their cool?" asked JD, smiling at the chaos he had caused. "NOT ME! I'M THE FACE OF COOL AND CHILL! CAN'T YOU TELL!?!" Chandler shouted, standing up. "I'M LEAVING!" She announced, disappearing. "Good riddance." JD muttered under his breath after her.

 

Chandler appeared on the sidewalk in front of Westerburg high in the ghost realm. She turned around and face palmed. "Goddamnit!" She said, looking over the courtyard.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you guys so much for 400 hits! It means a LOT to have this many people interested in our work. Please don't be afraid to leave some feedback on the story so long as it's civil. After all, how can we improve if no one shows us the flaws? Anyway back to the story. I'm not going to be able to upload for a while so that I can focus on my studies, so Blasted Back probably won't be updated for a while. However don't worry, it WILL be back eventually. Thanks for bearing with me and I'll see you soon. ~Sarinaamy out


	9. Shots Fired

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologize for this taking so long. In truth this chapter has been finished for a while, but I wanted to wait to upload it until the chapter after was finished( it isn't) but realized it would take too long. Anyway, here you guys are ❤️~ Sarinaamy out

“Goddamnit..." Said Heather Chandler as she looked out over the courtyard in front of Westerburg high. "I forgot about them." She muttered, as a few faces from the massive crowd of dead students, faculty, and visitors looked over and spotted her. "LOOK! IT'S HEATHER CHANDLER!" One shouted, bringing everyone's attention to her. About five hundred voices started to shout all at once however one statement seemed to stand out in its repetitiveness. "Wait... If Heather's here, does that mean that we're dead!?" Heather looked over at the usually stoned girl who had said it. "EVERYONE QUIET!" Chandler shouted, everyone shut up. "Ok, yes you're dead, there was a bomb in the boiler room. No, the person who set off the bomb is not here too. Any more questions?" She asked, tapping her foot in anticipation at the flood of questions she anticipated.

 No one said anything, the fact that they were dead was still sinking in. However one person, taking advantage of the quiet asked, "Can I hug you?". Chandler stared at them "What the fuck, no." She said, looking at them in confusion. "But you died for us." Said another voice in the crowd. Chandler rolled her eyes "That's what you were told? No, I did not die for you, I was murdered. Actually I was murdered by the same person who murdered you. They killed Kurt and Ram too, but those two actually were fags." The entire crowd stared, waiting for her to say who did it. She looked out, then realizing what they wanted she opened her mouth, "I was murdered by Jason Dean and Veronica Sawyer." she said. one moment, one moment of complete silence. Then three things happened all at the same time: 1, everyone in the crowd lost their heads except for two people, 2 one of the people, a woman towards the front of the crowd fell into a dead faint, 3 Everyone looked over to to the woman and the man picking her up and recognized them almost instantly. Mr. and Mrs. Sawyer were killed in the explosion. Chandler followed everyone's eyes and couldn't believe her own. Mr. Sawyer, having caught his wife looked around to see what all the fuss was about. "Oh dear." Chandler said, realizing what was about to happen.

“All at once the Sawyers were just about trampled by angry people, student and staff alike. "What kind of parenting leads a child to MURDER!?" "Why didn't you STOP HER!?" "Did you two KNOW about this?!" everyone was yelling at the same time, Mr. Sawyer looked like he was about to follow into his wife's footsteps when Chandler stepped in and waved away the people. "Cut it out!" she shouted, her voice cutting through the noise like a hot knife through butter. "They had nothing to do with it! Heck, their daughter wasn't even a knowing, let alone willing accomplice. I've been talking to her and she knew nothing about what was happening until after it happened both times. She only wrote my suicide note after her 'boyfriend' said she'd go to jail if she didn't!" eyes were all on Chandler as Mrs. Sawyer came to, but no one but her husband noticed. "Wh-what's going on?" she asked, looking at the people crowded around her and the teenage girl wearing the nightgown in front of her. "We'll talk later." Chandler said. a voice cut through the crowd "Wait, where IS Veronica?" it said, everyone started to murmur and look around for the missing student. Chandler sighed, "She was kidnapped... by Jason Dean." Suddenly everyone was screaming, "OH MY GOD!" "IS SHE ALRIGHT!?" "WHY DID HE TAKE HER!?" "SOMEONE NEEDS TO HELP HER!!!!" Chandler looked around, trying to find a way to slip out of this mess quietly when Mrs. Fleming piped up. "Ok, now everyone calm down this is a perfect opportunity to-" "OH, SHUT UP and go patronize some bunny rabbits or something Mrs. F!" shouted pervy nerd. "I DON'T PATRONIZE BUNNY RABBITS!" Mrs. Fleming shouted in indignation. "Oh, shut up Pauline!" said the headmaster. "Yeah, we all know that you do!" said a beleaguered geek. "Nobody listens to you, Mrs. F! Get your head out of the weed cloud!" the stoner chick added.

Heather Chandler took opportunity to pull Veronica's parents out of the crowd and drag them toward her house. "C'mon you two, we need to talk." she said as they walked out of eyesight of the crowd. However, they heard two slurred male voices coming from behind them and turned to see Kurt and Ram walking toward the school, babbling with drunken stupor. "Well then... I'm not going to bother with that." Said Chandler, pulling the two adults with her as she continued to walk away. Mr. Sawyer wondered what his lifeafterlife had come to that he was following a dead teenage girl wearing a skimpy silk kimono robe in search of answers as to what had happened to his daughter. Mrs. Sawyer was desperately hoping that this was a dream and that she would wake up at home with Veronica safe in her room. Neither wanted to think about the person who they were told had their daughter. From everything they had just found out, he was a dangerous person who had manipulated everyone into believing things that weren't true. Heck, they had even fallen for his manipulations more than once.

Heather Chandler just led on, she didn't need anyone else to have this information. Hell, she didn't even know if the Sawyers could handle the current situation. Regardless they had a right to know what was going on. "Come in, this is my place." Said Chandler, opening the door, and motioning for them to sit on the sofa. Mr. and Mrs. Sawyer sat down, and looked up to Chandler who sat back on the recliner. "Soo... what was all that about?" asked Mr. Sawyer, looking at Chandler his face a mix of concern and confusion. Mrs. Sawyer just sat there, leaning against her husband. Her head was spinning, trying to make sense of what was happening. Surely this girl must've been joking... a murderer didn't REALLY have Veronica, right?

Chandler sighed and opened her mouth "I'm sorry that you two had to find out like this. I'm sure that if you knew you were probably holding out hope that it wasn't the truth but let me tell you, it is." Mrs. Sawyer just buried her face in her husband's chest, trying to hide her reaction to the news presented to her. Mr. Sawyer stroked his distressed wife's hair trying to keep a straight face, to keep strong for them both. Chandler looked on with a little added respect for how hard the man was trying despite the fact that one of a parent's worst fears had befallen his daughter. "Veronica hadn't even known this kid for a full day before I died, but they were together when they came to my house that morning. I told Veronica to make me a prairie oyster and they went out into the kitchen. When they came back I asked Veronica for the cup and she handed it to me but when I drank it, it was NOT a prairie oyster." Veronica's father paled, "What was in the cup?" he asked nervously, looking as though he didn't really want to know the answer. As it turns out her 'boyfriend' thought it would be funny to put drain cleaner in a cup identical to the one with the prairie oyster in it. She grabbed the wrong cup and that's what she gave me.

Mrs. Sawyer shuddered and turned to face Chandler, looking as though she might be sick. "M-my sweet little Veronica k-killed you!?" she exclaimed, trying to keep the stutter out of her voice but ultimately failing. "If it makes you feel any better, she didn't do it on purpose." Chandler offered, trying to make the shaken woman calm down a little. Mrs. Sawyer just slumped backwards into the couch cushion trying to keep ahold of herself despite the fact that her world was falling around her. "Anyway, I stupidly didn't look into the cup and downed the whole thing before realizing what I had drank. So that encounter ended rather badly for me, and Veronica recently filled me in on what happened before I 'came around' so to speak. Basically she flipped and trenchcoat kid took advantage of her panic to get her to forge a suicide note in my handwriting. Afterwards I decided that I was going to hang around and see what else they did." Mr. Sawyer looked at Chandler "Go on." he said, a little uneasily. "Well after I died Veronica got a call from Heather McNamara telling her to motor to the graveyard because of an emergency. So off Veronica went but when she got there all she saw was a passed out Kurt Kelley and McNamara hiding in her car. Turns out the reason she was called there was so that she and Duke could give her up for date rape in order for them to avoid date rape.

Mr. Sawyer's face turned to one of outrage. "They did WHAT!?!" he shouted causing Chandler to look over at him, disinterested. "You heard me, anyway the two boys were too drunk to do anything so Veronica eventually just walked away after it was clear that McNamara and Duke wouldn't let her into the car. So at school the next morning Veronica goes up to them and asks for an apology. However when she told me to shut up about them touching my stuff little miss green with envy told HER to shut up. Apparently she had gotten ahold of my red scrunchie and used it to take my place. Afterwards she went around helping Kurt and Ram spread rumors that she blew them both off and she ran off to cry." Mrs. Sawyer opened her mouth like she was going to say something but Chandler just shushed her. "So trenchcoat kid tried to beat up Kurt and Ram but just ended up having his ass handed to him. When he found Veronica hiding in a closet he had the brilliant idea to tell her they were going to tranq the two and stage a gay suicide pact. So Veronica calls the boys up and tells them that she wants to do a threesome with them and being the stupid faggot jocks they are, they believed her. JD told Veronica that he was filling their guns with 'ich luge' bullets which were tranquilizer. I'm not sure why or how but she believes him and as it turns out the bullets were called ich luge for a reason. It's German for 'I lied'.

Mr. Sawyer looked like he was about to pass out so Chandler just said, "None of that now. You're a full grown man and I won't have you passing out in my living room." Mr. Sawyer straightened up, still not looking so well but determined not to pass out no matter what this girl said next. "So Veronica waited for them in the rendezvous point in the woods and had them strip for her. She said that at the count of three they could come at her and rip her clothes off of her. When they got to three though Her boyfriend jumped out from behind a tree and shot them. Veronica shot too but missed. So JD went out and chased Kurt before shooting him and dragging him back to the clearing." Mrs. Sawyer slumped even further into the couch, not wanting to hear any of this but knowing that she needed to know exactly what this boy was capable of.

"Afterwards, Veronica broke up with him because she didn't want to be a part of any more murders that JD might commit." Heather continued, "However, this was before he came and warned you of Veronica's 'thoughts of suicide' which, by the way, didn't exist at the time." "At the time?!" Mr. Sawyer repeated, "You're saying that she developed them a little later?!" "Yes, most likely. She's probably already tried to, but JD has a way of depriving her of any way out of the trap she's in, even through means of suicide. You know how you found her hanging from her bed sheets?" Mrs. Sawyer nodded. "Well, JD knew about that little stunt she pulled. He actually fell for it. But now, she doesn't even have those. She sleeps on a bed with no bedsheets." Heather said, crossing her arms and shaking her head, pitious and disdainfully.

Mr. Sawyer's eyes widened. "Wait, wait. Wait! This boy was in our house?!" "Yes, he picked her window lock." Heather said, matterofactly. "Holy shit. He's not going to leave her alone!" Mrs. Sawyer started sobbing, "You're saying that she really doesn't have any way to escape?" "Not without the help of a miracle," Heather replied. "And, I highly doubt that God will be able to help her. She's fallen into the clutches of the devil spawn himself. I mean, he did blow up the entire school and everyone in it." Mr. and Mrs. Sawyer hugged each other for dear afterlife. "Not my little girl…" Mr. Sawyer said, only a little more audiable than a mix between a gasp and whisper. Mrs. Sawyer bauled into her husband's arms. "If only we knew! We could've tried to help her!" "Well, of course she didn't  tell us for a reason, Valerie." Mr. Sawyer said, gazing to the side. "She should have!" His wife responded, distraught from all the new information being placed on her mind. "Yes, she should have, but would you tell me that you murdered three people?" He tried to reason. "She didn't, though, Theodore! She was just an unwilling accomplice!" Mrs. Sawyer insisted, looking to Heather for confirmation. "She was, I'll admit that, but who would possibly believe her if she said so?" "I would have!" The heartwrenched mother yelled, angry at anyone who could possibly pass off her daughter, a good girl who simply got caught up with the wrong guy, as a murdress.

Would you really have believed her, Valerie?" Mr. Sawyer asked, a little shocked at his wife's words. Mrs. Sawyer said nothing, just pulled her legs up to her chest like a frightened child, and cried into her knees. Nobody said anything, the only sound was Mrs. Sawyer's tears and sobs. Heather Chandler had no more words of comfort for the pair. She was proud of herself, however. She'd broken the news to them in the gentlest way she could imagine possible. But it wasn't enough. Nothing could ever be enough to completely comfort you, when you just got killed but the person who kidnapped your daughter...

 


	10. What's next?

Veronica slowly came to, blinking sleep out of her eyes and turning to get out of bed. She couldn't. She tried harder, and upon feeling a tugging sensation at her ankles, looked down. They were tied on a short rope so she couldn't get off the mattress. "Oh good, you're awake," said JD, as he looked up from an odd looking machine in the corner. "I was hoping we could watch a movie together, now that I have this generator with me." Veronica looked at JD with skepticism. "Yeah, uh huh, sure. What are you really getting at over here?" She asked, squinting at him, looking for clues as to what he was up to. "Nothing, my dear, I just thought that you might enjoy a nice, realizing movie after all the stress you went through back in Ohio. Now, Romeo and Juliet, or The Princess Bride?" He asked, nonchalantly. "Fuck you!" Veronica snapped, glaring at the psychopath. "I don't exactly feel like watching a movie with you! Not after all the shit you just did!" "As you wish, darling," JD said with a devious smirk on his face, getting up from the generator and going towards Veronica. She tensed, realizing her mistake, but waited for him to get a little closer, before clocking him in the face. "Piss off! If I didn't enjoy it last time, what the hell makes you think I will this time?!" She seethed. "But you did enjoy it, Ronnie. You just don't care to admit it." JD groaned, rubbing his sore cheek. "What did I fucking say?! Piss off!!! As if I would ever do that with you willingly!" "You did once…" He pointed out. "That was before I found out that you were psychotic! Also, I was desperate and under a whole lot of outside influence!" She snarled. JD frowned, looking a little bit dejected. "Romeo and Juliet it is, then. I can see that you need some time to cool down.

Veronica rolled her eyes and turned to her side so that she was facing away from JD. The opening credits played, she ignored it. She wanted nothing to do with anything JD had put on, about thirty minutes in, however, after several failed attempts to engage Veronica JD got up and turned off the disc player. "Look, obviously you don't want to watch this... I have to go get some food so I'll just leave the remote over here, go ahead and watch whatever you want. I'll be back soon, okay?" He said, a little dejected and exasperated. Once he left, she just lay there, before looking over at the remote. She was tempted to turn on The Princess Bride, but that was something that she only did with Martha. Martha… A tear almost fell. She held clenched knuckles to her mouth, bowing her head to her knees. In a way, she wished Martha were here, but that would only be possible if Martha were a ghost. And in order for Martha to be a ghost… "Oh my god…" Veronica shuddered. "What am I thinking?! I don't want Martha dead! What is wrong with me?!!" She heaved out a shaking breath, trying to calm herself down. No. She couldn't think like that. If she ever let JD find out, he may just go looking for Martha to make sure she was already dead… if she isn't already dead… Please, God, let her be alive...

*The previous day*

Barely registered sirens drew closer as Martha and McNamara stood silently in front of the ruins of Westerburg. The girls looked over at each other. "What now?" Martha asked weakly, trying to wrap her mind around the rubble, the smoke, the smell of burning flesh that had made it all the way across the 6 lane road to them. "Now, we tell the police about JD." Responded McNamara. Memories of one scream echoed in her mind. One person, a tiny freshman girl with short brown hair made it to the locked door right before the school collapsed. The thought of her, reaching the door just to realize the hopelessness of it, her face falls into despair... It was permanently etched into her mind. Martha turned around to see a police officer approaching. "Umm, Heather?" She said, poking McNamara in the back, snapping her out of the memory. "What?" "There's a police officer headed our way." McNamara turned to look, and sure enough, there was a police officer headed their way looking very shocked. "..." the girls both said as the police officer came to a stop in front of them. "Where are the rest of you?" he asked, looking at the ruins behind them, a look of shock and horror on his face. "I'm not sure there are any others," Martha said, looking away from the school toward the forest. Earlier, right after the school collapsed, she thought she had seen movement over there. It was faint and gone too quickly to tell though. But she had to wonder... "...!" She started, startled by Heather's hand waving in front of her face. "Huh?" She asked, semi absently.

*Back to present-time*

Veronica picked up the remote to the cable box looked it over. How long has she been cut off? She didn't remember. Without any sort of light from the outside, all accounts of time blended into themselves. She turned on the television and started scrolling through channels before catching a glimpse of her own face and pauses for a second. "...The search continues for 17-year-old Veronica Sawyer last seen headed towards the woods by Westerburg High in Sherwood Ohio wearing a blue blazer and grey miniskirt." Veronica gulped, unsure how to feel about this. On one hand, she hadn't been forgotten and they were actively looking for her. On the other hand, their search for her was putting people in danger of JD. She looked up at the TV now showing a smoking, flaming ruin that she took a minute looking at before realizing: that was Westerburg High. Or what was left of it anyway.

*The previous day*

Flashes of camera lights, microphones, questions shouted by police and reporters alike. Nothing made sense, but all at the same time it did. Martha's mind was racing a million miles an hour trying to focus on it all. McNamara, seeing this grabbed her hand and squeezed it, trying to pull her back into reality. To some extent it worked, bringing Martha's attention instead to the reporter that Heather was currently talking to. The reporter, seeing this, asked. "Do you think that this 'Jason Dean' survived the explosion, and if so, where is he now?" Martha blinked. Did he survive? There was not much room for question, he was too smart to stay in the building. "Yes, from everything I know about JD I believe he's still out there, and if he's anywhere it's probably either out of or on his way out of Ohio." She gulped, thinking of Veronica and how much harder looking for her was going to be. "Do you believe that Veronica Sawyer was at all involved in this tragedy?" The reporter asked earnestly. McNamara looked at him with shock and disgust. "Of COURSE she wasn't! At least not directly." She thought for a minute. "Veronica was a good friend of mine. A few days before she went missing she was telling the whole school to enjoy being seventeen and living before we became adults." The reporter was taken aback by her tone. An investigator nearby looked over at the distressed pair of girls and cut through the crowd toward them. "All right, break it up. Nothing to see here folks." He said, waving his arms between the girls and the crowd of people. The crowd grumbled but backed off. "Now." He said, turning to look at the teens. "You two are coming with me. There are some questions that need answering." Martha and McNamara nodded, following him to the cruiser parked on the corner of the street. Leaving the sounds of the crackling flames behind them.

*Back to present-time*

Veronica's eyes widened as the reporter announced an interview with two of the surviving students of Westerburg. It couldn't be... could it? She listened intently to the man, trying to catch a name but heard none. Then the clip cut on and she saw two very familiar faces. Relief flooded her senses as McNamara and Martha answered questions, and supported each other. They were ALIVE, they were safe. She felt a sudden chill on her shoulder and whipped her head around quickly. Right behind her was a familiar head of golden curls. "Heather, they're ALIVE!" Veronica said, her eyes welling up with tears of joy. Heather looked down at Veronica, did she REALLY want to destroy her so entirely when this was the first time she'd been so happy since before meeting JD? She thought for a minute before deciding that it would have to happen eventually. "Veronica... I need to talk to you about something. Turn off the TV." she said, trying to brace herself. "Umm, ok Heather, what is it?" Veronica asked, looking at Heather's sympathetic face. Heather looked past one shoulder, and then past the next, nodding over each one in turn. "Veronica... I'm not sure how to tell you this, but your parents... they." Veronica's eyes widened, her face turning into one of despair and extreme loss. ".....n-n-no," she said weakly, looking back up at Heather. This revealed the reason she had looked over both her shoulders. Mr. and Mrs. Sawyer were both standing behind the young ghost, looking aghast at Veronica's state. Realizing that she could see them, they rushed to her side and held her tight, or at least they tried to.

Veronica felt her parent's arms phase through her and shivered from the chill. Heather turned and left, this was none of her business anyway. Valerie inspected Veronica, looking for any signs of abuse or torment, however, found none. At least, until Veronica looked up to her mother. Valerie looked into her daughter's light brown eyes and saw a world of agony. Theodore looked confusedly at his wife, why did she look so afraid at Veronica's eyes. However, before he could say anything Veronica opened her mouth. "Mom... Dad?" Her already tear stained face looked in danger of having fresh tracks on them. "Shhhhh, it's alright. We have you." Her mother cooed, trying to rock Veronica and being momentarily confused when she couldn't. "Y'know why did I ever get involved in my teenage daughter's social life?" Theodore said playfully. "Because you're an idiot dad." Responded a sadly smiling Veronica. "You two..." Valerie said in mock exasperation, she was trying not to ruin the moment with as fragile as Veronica's psyche was at the moment but was legitimately concerned for the subject of what had happened between now and the last time she had seen her daughter. Veronica really was a mess with her rumpled clothes, matted hair, and... was that vomit on the collar of her shirt? That's when she noticed the bindings on her ankles. "What the..." she started, her eyes fixed on the short ropes attaching her daughter to the bed. Veronica followed her mother's eyes and looked down at her ankles, flinching when she saw the ropes, she had forgotten about that. "..." she said, halfway alarmed, not wanting her parents to dig too deeply into the situation but not really knowing what to say about it either.

Theodore was the first one to break the silence. "So, um.. how're things with you and your boyfriend?" he blurted out before realizing what he had said and clapping his hands over his mouth. Valerie whipped her head around to glare at him fiercely. Veronica's face looked a mix of depressed, fearful, and angry. "JD isn't my boyfriend anymore... not after-!" She stopped suddenly, her parents didn't need to know all of what had happened recently. It was bad enough that they had been caught in the crosshairs. Having finished glaring at her husband Valerie refocused her attention onto Veronica. "You were saying something?" She asked. Veronica said nothing. "Nevermind." She said, quickly, picking at one of her nails. She didn't look at the pair, she shifted to the floor. It was as if the color was draining from her face, crossing her legs.

She took a deep breath, trying not to cry. Crying would entail losing control and she couldn't do that. Not now. Her very sanity depended on it. She had to be strong. Valerie could see that Veronica was hiding something but said nothing. Veronica looked at her parents' faces, trying to convince herself that this was a dream, it HAD to be... right? However, being able to see the wall through your family's heads is not a very convincing sight. She started to shake, ever so slightly, not knowing what to say next. Suddenly, the sound of a lock being unlocked could be heard, and Veronica's eyes went wide. Heather took this as her sign to pull the parents out, saying, "He can see us, we have to leave. Otherwise, it would only hurt her more."

With that, they were gone, and for a few blessed seconds, Veronica was alone once more. Then, her personal nightmare unlocked the door. "Ronnie! I'm ho-ome!" He called, all sing-song and chipper. Veronica resisted the urge to roll her eyes and scowl at the ~~man~~ demon. "I've brought spaghetti, with lots of oregano." He said. "Your favorite, right?" Having just seen her parents, and remembering that spaghetti with lots of oregano was one of the last meals she ate with them, she was jolted in her spot on the bed. "My favorite..." She mumbled, looking down at her lap. "Well then, I hope this is a good dinner. Allow me the honor of cooking for you, Darling." He said, producing a propane stove, and a pot to boil the noodles in.

Veronica, still in her grief-induced stupor, just watched the flame dance under the pot, wishing she could stick her hand out and catch fire and burn to death. However, even if she did, JD would douse water on her, no doubt. Then, not only would she miserable as she is now, but she would be soaking wet and in pain. Sighing at how horrible her best idea was, she turned to look at the news, which she had not turned off and had just finished with its commercial break. JD, upon hearing the voice of a TV anchor on the scene of Westerburg's remains, looked up to see what his darling wife was watching. When he saw the location of the news report, he scowled. So  _that's_ what Veronica was so upset about. "Darling, there's no use being so sad about such a trivial thing. All those people who were holding you prisoner are gone, now. They can't bother you, anymore." JD said, getting up and hugging her. She hunched her neck in, like a turtle, and leaned closer to the TV. "I've never heard such a lie..." She replied, quietly. JD opened his mouth, about to ask what she meant by that when the TV spouted a voice that made him freeze. A voice that could possibly kill him, if used correctly. A voice that he'd been ~~raised~~ ~~taught~~ trained, _like an animal_ , to fear since the day his mother died.

"And now, a word from the family of the accused psychopath behind this horrendous crime." The reporter said, before passing the microphone to a middle-aged man, holding a warm beer. Upon seeing Bud Dean's face, JD felt a strong impulse to shoot the god damn Television. He could see the bullet entering the screen right between Bud Dean's eyes. But, upon contemplating that, JD realized that it would possibly scare Veronica, so he abstained from pulling out his gun and forced himself to listen. "I don't what you people think my son did, but I'll tell you fuckers right now that Jason Dean is no psycho, and he did  _not_ do this!" Bud said. "Mr. Dean, are you aware that there were multiple explosives missing from your workplace, which match the type of explosives used to obliterate this building?" "What did I say?! Jason Dean is no psycho, and he did  _not_ do this!" "Mr. Dean, we were just asking a question. Did you or did you not know about the missing explosives?" The reporter asked. "No, I did not, you bitch!" He said, before lunging at the news reporter, the last that was seen from that camera was a man attacking a woman, and a bunch of cops rushing to pry him off of her.

For once in JD's life, he was relieved with his father. It wasn't very often that the dysfunctional, psychotic family supported each other, but when they did, it was a very refreshing experience. JD was stunned. He didn't expect to have his father's support with this challenge. It took a few seconds for JD to speak after that, and then he burst out laughing. "That has to be the only thing I've heard from that old beaver that makes any sense!" He said. Veronica scoffed. "I highly disagree." She said. JD looked at her, surprised by the civility that he saw. She wasn't saying stuff, simply to scratch at him like a declawed cat; she was replying to him as if they were having a nice conversation. Like a couple, watching the news together. Maybe he was making progress. JD got up and sat beside her legs, which were still crossed at the ankles. He then reached up and caressed her cheek and jaw, before gripping on hard enough that she couldn't easily look away, but soft enough that it didn't hurt. It forced her to stare at him. To be stared at by his dark eyes. Two windows into two totally different minds, different hearts, different souls;

Two windows, being held open by a boy reaching through one of them to hold open the other and sneak into the bedroom of the little girl next door. Said girl has no choice, but to hold the window open for him, for he's already crawling his way inside. He's completely inside now, and the girl is curious as to what toys lay in his room, waiting to be played with. She cautiously steps towards the window, wanting to peer into the boy's room, but the boy quickly shuts both the windows. It doesn't matter, he's inside her room now, he doesn't need the windows to be open anymore. For minutes, Veronica and JD just sit there, eyes closed, but not at rest. JD was ransacking her mind like a little boy in a room full of toys for him to take, to play with, to break, to throw away, and to find another toy. Meanwhile, the little girl, who's room was being torn apart and plundered of all the things she held dear, is trying to keep him from ripping apart her dolls, named Princess Martha and Heather Maceroni. Her friends, her protectors from nightmares. He'd already spilled some blue paint on one of her dolls, a porcelain doll in a pretty red dress, and he'd popped the heads off of both her Ken dolls after smashing them together repeatedly. She did not understand why he'd done so, but she was still sad. He'd stomped all over her play school, with one of her favorite dolls in it. A little wooden doll, with a green dress and dark hair, whom she'd named Duchess. He knocked a photograph off her bedside table, a photograph of her and her parents, whose faces had been cut through by shattered glass, though hers remained undamaged.

The little boy saw another Ken doll in the corner of her room. It was collecting a thin layer of dust, having obviously been in time out for a while. He pulled the Ken doll out from the corner, dusting it off with his shirt and handing it to her. It wore a black shirt and was the only one she had with dark hair. She didn't want to play with it. It was still in trouble for all the mayhem it caused in her previous adventures with her dollies. Seeing her just sitting there, staring at the doll, the little boy went and sat down with her. She was angry with the boy and did not look at him. He pulled a doll out from his pocket. It was a pretty brunette barbie doll with a sparkly blue dress and tiara on her head. "Don't cry. Here," The little boy said, upon seeing how sad he'd made the little girl by wrecking her room. He placed the dolls next to each other, in a way that they were holding hands. The little girl wrinkled her nose at the sight of the dirty, old-looking, black-haired doll holding hands with the new, shiny-looking, blue-dressed doll. So, she took the blue doll and began to play on her own with the doll. The little boy began trying to bring the black-haired Ken doll into the play, but whenever he got to close, the girl always made the brunette doll say, "I don't like playing with meanies!" and turned away.

Veronica forced her eyes open. JD opened his own a split second later. Once they were disconnected, Veronica released a sigh. JD tilted his head, before kissing the girl. She tensed up and tried to shove him backwards, but he just flicked his tongue over hers. After retracting, he saw that the spaghetti was ready and he said, playfully, "Veronica, dinner."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Quick note: I know that these chapters have been taking a while to upload so in the meantime we've decided to start a Q/A about the story. Keep in mind that we aren't going to tell you about anything that hasn't already happened but if you have any questions about the characters themselves or want clarification on something they did then ask away! :) ~Sarinaamy out


	11. The Interrogation Room pt. 1

Heather McNamara was seated in a dark room, facing a lamp that nearly blinded her. This was the second day she was in here, but she knew the drill already. After getting in the car of the detective she and Martha were immediately driven to the county police station. Heather had been very confused as she and Martha were led different ways. That is, until she was placed in the dark, aforementioned room. That's when she realized what was going on: they believed that she and Martha had done it. The police questioned her about things involving the explosion. Where she was when it happened, why she was standing across the street from the building when they got there, did she know the other girl with her, etc. She answered truthfully to each and every one, raising a few eyebrows when she got to the part about having seen Jason Dean in the crowd. "Are you referring to the same Jason Dean that has been a missing person for three weeks and whom you accused of kidnapping the girl, Veronica Sawyer?" One of the policemen asked, squinting at her, trying to find a crack in her story. Heather took a deep breath, _"Just put on your clique face, don't show them how nervous you are."_ "Yes, I'm talking about the same person." She replied calmly. _"Oh gosh, am I being transparent? Can they see how scared I am?"_ she thought to herself, while keeping her face pleasant, but serious. The policeman looked over to his co-worker and nodded. "Okay, young lady, we're going to check your story with your friend, Ms. Dunnstock. You're going to be staying here until we can confirm your story." The police officer took her by the arm and led her to a cell, he turned and looked at her kindly. "Don't worry, if you have nothing to hide then you'll be out of here in a few days. However, until then we need to keep you here." McNamara nodded, she could understand why. She and Martha had made the decision to stay at the scene of the crime, and were now paying for it. Of course, it would've looked more suspicious if they fled... What COULD they have done? She drifted off a little, thinking about how things could have gone had JD died with the first bomb.

-Back to Present-

* * *

 

“Hey, I asked you a question, young lady.”  The office said, a little harshly but not too hostile a manner. “I’m sorry, what?” Heather asked, snapping out of her thoughts about yesterday. “I said are you aware that a good deal of explosives were stolen from Big Bud’s Deconstruction a couple of weeks before the incident occurred?” Heather blinked, _"So THAT’s where he got them from."_ “No, I was not.” She responded, cool as a cucumber. The police scrutinized the look on her face. There were no signs of discomfort besides the squinting of the light in her eyes and she was showing no visible mental distress, not even the usual distress of those falsely accused. They had been thoroughly trained in the art of interrogation however, and she had shown no indications of having lied or thought up an alibi. Her case was flawless but her expression seemed a little artificial. “Are you familiar with a girl by the name of Athena Pelline?” One of the guards asked, looking into a file while the other watched her reaction. None. “I think I was in her class in third grade, but I never really talked to her, why?” She asked, a little confused. “Miss Pelline was the only other known survivor of the Westerberg bombing besides you and Miss Dunnstock. Were you perhaps acquainted with her younger sister Lady?” Heather thought for a minute, _Lady… that name rings a bell in the back of my head but who was she?_ “What did she look like?” She asked, looking for a hint as to the identity of the girl. “She was a freshman, Caucasian girl with short brown hair, a small physique, and hazel eyes. Heather’s eyes widened. She remembered a girl with that description. Those wide hazel eyes crying out for help through the glass front door of the school, filling with tears of despair as the school crumbled atop her. “I do believe I was for a brief moment,” Heather responded, her eyes on the verge of filling with tears at the memory of a girl she could never know.The police looked at each other. Was she cracking? They seemed to have hit a nerve. “What do you mean by ‘for a brief moment’?” They asked. Heather was full on crying now. _"You have to tell them the truth."_  "I’ve only ever seen the girl you described once. On the day of the explosion right before the school collapsed she reached the glass front door of the school, it was locked, she called out for help. Then the school collapsed on top of her." Heather said, holding back a sob. The first policeman, Officer Hansen, if she had read the name correctly, looked at her a little skeptically.

"If you were across the street at the time of the explosion then how are you sure of the girl in question’s expression?" Heather blinked. “ _I_ _hadn’t thought of that, how DID I see her so clearly?”_ “I’m not sure, I could just TELL what she was feeling _._ ”  _"Oh god, I'm starting to sound like Ms. Flemming. They're never gonna take me seriously!"_ Officer Hansen did not look convinced. “But what about you and your friend? How come you got out of the school but no one else?” Heather had been afraid of this question. “Martha and I were leaving early when she noticed JD walking in the crowd wearing a baseball cap. Neither of us had time to think, we just ran.” Heather took a moment to thank the stars Duke hadn’t been at school that day... wait, hadn’t he said Athena was the ONLY other surviving student? “Ms. McNamara, you were a cheerleader, correct?” “Yes, I used to be cheer captain before the attack.” The officer cleared his throat. "If that's so then why weren't you out in the gymnasium with the rest of the cheer team when the device detonated?" _This is going to look very bad for me and Veronica if I only tell them that she informed me and Martha_. "Are you aware of the bomb that went off at the pep rally before this? The one that exploded on the football field where supposedly no one was hurt?", "Yes" responded the officer. "What about it?" McNamara went on to explain their reasoning behind suspecting JD, while the officers looked on at her betraying no feeling towards this story.

The officers looked at McNamara, then they looked at each other. Was she being serious? This was an outrageous story, but they still couldn't find any signs that she was lying. So either she was really good at acting and had come up with a good alibi beforehand, or she was telling them the truth. Of course... that explanation for how the bombs were stolen from Bud Dean made a lot more sense, but still. How did someone survive having a bomb strapped to their chest? Not to mention, what drove them to try to blow up the school in the first place? It seemed that there were some pieces to the story that didn't quite fit... either that or there was something more to the story that she either didn't know or wasn't telling them. No matter which it was they needed to get down to the bottom of it. "So, Ms. McNamara, would you say that you're close to Ms. Sawyer?" One asked, finally. "Yes, we're good friends.", "Okay, then did you ever notice anything odd about her behavior leading up to the incident?" McNamara thought for a moment.  _She DID seem a little stressed and such after Heather's suicide, and it got worse after Kurt and Ram's. That's when she broke up with- HOLY SHIT!!!_ McNamara's eyes went wide and her hands flew up to cover her mouth. A small squeak snuck through. The officers leaned in a little more intently at that. "Yes?" one of them said expectantly. Heather took a second to gain her composure, _"_ _Can I tell them? It would certainly spell trouble for Veronica but at the same time... she wouldn't have, would she? It's crazy to think that she would."_ "She seemed a little stressed and almost kind of hunted at school for a while, I had chalked it up to be her way of dealing with the death of our classmates who had died recently but she seemed a little worse around her boyfriend, and he was getting a little more controlling and demanding with her."

A little more came into the light here. A possibly manipulative/abusive boyfriend perhaps? Did the deaths of her peers have anything to do with it? "Was she close with any of the deceased students?" Officer Hansen asked. "Yes, she was relatively close with Heather Chandler, who was the first girl to commit suicide.", "What about the other two? It says here that they killed themselves in a repressed homosexual suicide pact. Were they important to her?" Heather thought for a moment.  _Is this really a good idea? It's starting to make her look like the bad guy._ "I don't think so. I mean they were pretty terrible to her the day before..." She mentally facepalmed,  _How is it that despite not having done anything we all look guilty as hell!?_ Nothing seemed to make sense at the moment, she felt on the brink of a giant revelation but was trapped by this room and its uncomfortable openness.  _What happened to the school!? It thought I knew everything, but nothing makes sense anymore!_ she began to hyperventilate slightly, the room was blurring at the edges of her vision. ".....are you ok...?" there was a heavy headache sinking its way into her skull like a weight through water. **Something** was trying to press into her head, she could feel someone there. Almost see.... her? The last thing McNamara saw before blacking out entirely was the outline of a girl in green.


	12. The Interrogation Room Pt. 2

~~~~"Ms. Dunnstock." An officer named Gibbs said, pulling up a chair to the table where Martha sat. "Her partner in crime." "What?" Martha asked. "Your friend, Ms. McNamara admitted to the whole thing, Miss. We know that you blew up Westerburg High, and murdered everyone inside." Officer Hansen said. Martha's jaw dropped. "I did nothing of the sort!" She said, honestly terrified. Unlike Heather, she'd had no experience with anything like this. Heather had learned quickly how to keep her cool while under extreme pressure during the many years that the other Heathers had made her be a bitch on command. Martha had not. "And yet you seem scared. Why, when you have obviously done nothing wrong?" "I swear I didn't even touch a bomb! Not a bomb that blew up Westerberg, not any form of explosive!" She said. "Besides, my arm is still in a cast from a couple weeks ago. How could I operate a bomb with just one hand, especially if I don't know how to with two hands?" The officers looked to one another and Officer Hansen said, "Either way, even if _you're_ innocent, Ms. McNamara still confessed that she did it and that you helped. So tell us, Ms. Dunnstock. Which parts of her confession are false?" "Every last bit of it! Heather has been sticking close to me ever since I told her what Veronica told me."

"Veronica? As in Veronica Sawyer?" Officer Gibbs asked. "Yes," Martha said. "Isn’t she the girl that went missing?" Officer Hansen asked his colleague. "Yeah... How about we have Ms. Dunnstock tell us about Ms. Veronica Sawyer." "Will it help prove that Heather is innocent alongside me?" Martha asked. "Well, it depends on what you tell us. Now, why don't you start from the beginning?" Officer Hansen said, leaning forward.

"Well... It was last Friday night, and Veronica was at my house with me. We were watching 'The Princess Bride' like we do every movie night. The pep rally had ended early because a bomb went off on the football field. As far as we knew, nobody was hurt, but Veronica had walked up and looked like she was caught just within the blast radius of the explosion. I didn't ask what had happened to her. I was simply too shocked. She asked me if I wanted to have a movie night and I said yes. Then, while we were watching, she confessed to me that Jason Dean had tried to blow up the school and that she managed to get the bomb out to the football field when JD took it from her and blew himself to smithereens. She wouldn't say why, though... But she _did_  say that there was no trace of his body, and so there was still a tiny fear that he may not be dead. She told me to keep a watchful eye for any suspicious activity. That's how I noticed JD lurking towards the boiler room at this last pep rally. I'd told Heather what Veronica told _me_  that night, so we both fled the school. we got out to the parking lot as soon as the place exploded. That's why we were standing there when the police pulled up." Martha explained.

The police officers pondered this for a minute, before standing. "We'll be right back, Ms. Dunnstock." Officer Gibbs said, getting up from the chair and walking out, followed by Officer Hansen, who gave Martha a reassuring smile. "You'll be fine, Ms. Dunnstock." Martha certainly hoped so. She just wanted to find Veronica and put this nightmare to an end. That way she could finally go to sleep and not have nightmares about this mess like she’d been having for the past two nights. It’s scary to think that if she had been a little slower, she could’ve been seriously injured, maybe even killed. Martha started to cry. It hurts to know that everyone you’ve known since kindergarten is dead or in massive trouble. “I just want to go home...” She whimpered.

”What’s this?” Officer Gibbs said, walking back inside, holding a cup of black coffee in his hand. “Tears?” Martha dried her eyes. “Can you blame me? Veronica was my best friend. She’s been missing since last week and, aside from Heather, all the people I grew up with are dead!” “Are you so sure, Ms. Dunnstock?” Officer Hansen asked, sitting beside her. “Everyone was in that school. Nobody could’ve survived having a building collapse on top of them, that is, is they weren’t already incinerated by the explosion.” Martha sniffled. “You’re right. But, there is one girl who was absent from school. She was home sick with a fever.” He replied, setting a candy bar on the table. The pair must’ve gone to the vending machines or something. Martha picked up the candy bar and took a bite while looking at the Officer expectantly. “Do you know a Ms. Athena Pelline?” Martha shook her head. “I’m a very shy girl. Aside from Veronica, my only other friend after kindergarten was a girl named Betty Finn. I didn't become friends with Heather until about two weeks ago.” She said.

"Hmm. Well, I think we've gotten all that we can out of her this way. She definitely seems innocent, why don't we just go ahead and ask?" Officer Hansen asked his partner. "Yeah, let's go ahead." "What?" Martha asked, confused. "Ms. Dunnstock, we apologize for the dishonesty." Officer Hansen said. "We had told you that Ms. McNamara had confessed to the crime so that we could possibly get some more information out of you." Martha frowned. "Although I'm not happy about that, I can understand." She said, taking another bite of her candy bar. "So, judging by the fact that you gave me some food, I guess I checked out as Heather's Alibi?" "Smart girl." Officer Hansen nodded. "You and she are, so far, looking innocent. However, we still have a few questions to ask." Martha was growing more comfortable with the situation. "Alright, what else would you like to know?" "Ms. McNamara mentioned the deaths of three students prior to the first bombing of Westerberg. However, a certain reaction from her caused us to wonder if these were really suicides..." Martha furrowed her eyebrows. "Well, I don't know about the death of Heather Chandler, but I was definitely questioning the death of Kurt and Ram for a while..." She said. "See back in kindergarten, Ram and I were a couple. We broke up at the start of first grade." She hunched her shoulders. "Go on..." Officer Gibbs said, semi-impatiently. "I know that twelve years is definitely a long enough time for someone change their sexuality, but, before Heather Chandler died, I thought I'd received a note from Ram, inviting me to his homecoming party. It was so sweet as if he still cared about me after all these years." She smiled in nostalgia.

"Yes..." Officer Hansen urged. "But, it turns out that it was really an attempt by Heather Chandler to publicly humiliate me. She had intimidated Veronica into forging a note in Ram's handwriting for me. When Veronica found out what Heather had planned, she put a stop to it, but that ended up with the two of them falling out in front of everybody. The next morning Heather downed a cup of drain cleaner." The police glanced at each other before Officer Hansen scribbled that down on the notepad he had. "Alright, and then what happened?" "And then, a few days passed by when I was told that Kurt and Ram had shot each other in a homosexual suicide pact." She continued. "I was shocked because I hadn't realized that the note supposedly from Ram was fake. I confided in Veronica that I suspected JD had killed the pair and was going to sneak through his locker. I was under the impression that Ram can't have been gay for Kurt because he was still thinking of me, therefore it had to be a fake suicide." But, why did you suspect Jason Dean?" "Well, the day before Kurt and Ram died, Heather Duke had assisted Kurt and Ram in spreading a rumor around school that Veronica sucked them both off at the same time. The motive was there for JD to do something like that." "How did you find out that the supposed note from Ram was fake?" Officer Hansen asked. "Veronica told me after I confided in her about JD," Martha said, hunching her shoulders. 

 "So, do you believe that Kurt and Ram commit suicide, now?" Officer Gibbs asked. "Maybe... I really don't know, especially now that I know that JD tried to blow up the school twice, and succeeded on the second attempt." Martha said. "Hmm..." Officer Gibbs hummed. "I think that's all we need for right now." Officer Hansen said, to which his colleague nodded. "In that case, come along Ms. Dunnstock, I'll take to the vending machines to get you some food." Martha was guided from the room, towards the vending machines, where the five dollars in her purse was given to her so that she could buy some snacks for Heather and herself. Meanwhile, Officer Gibbs had made his way to Heather McNamara's holding cell, where another officer informed him that an m.D had arrived to see what was wrong with her. Inside the bars, she was still unconscious and the practitioner was checking her pulse and blood pressure. Both were normal. "After you're done with that one, could you check over Ms. Dunnstock, Dr. Pelline?" Officer Gibbs asked. "Of course, officer." She said, not a single hint of emotion in her voice. She knew that her youngest was dead, and was rather heartbroken that these two girls were alive instead: These two girls whom she knew nothing of, for they obviously didn't know Lady, lest Lady would tell her mother and sister about them. Still, she knew never to get emotionally involved in a case, and therefore would not do anything other than her job. Right now, all that mattered to her was making sure that these two girls, who seemed to be very closely related to the crime, were in well enough of a condition to aid the police in finding the culprit. "I'll make sure that they are both taken care of, you have my word."


	13. Entering the Void

McNamara's eyes slowly inched open. Every part of her ached, her head most of all and this place was bright as hell. She tried to sit up but realized she was floating on nothing. Her feet slowly lowered to the floor beneath her and she took a look at her surroundings. There was nothing, it was a bright white, empty void. She began to question where the heck she was a why she was here when she heard a voice behind her. "Well, well, well. Look who we have here. Looks like the gang is all back together isn't it?' Said a sarcastic and sassy voice. She knew that voice anywhere. "Heather!?!" she called out, whipping her head into the direction the voice had come from and seeing her standing there, albeit a bit different than she remembered her. "The one and only. I'd say in the flesh but that isn't really true, now is it?" "No, I guess not... But where are we?" McNamara once again looked around the empty space around them, searching for any signs of change or a way out. "Good question, I have no fucking clue. Heather went and tried to force your brain to register her so you could see and hear her but she had no idea what she was doing. She fucked something up and now you're stuck in here until I can fix it at least partly.

”You... mean to tell me that ghosts are doing some weird shit to my head right now?”, "Yeah pretty much, I think that you're going to be stuck with us for a while now. But anyway, how the HELL did you end up in the fucking interrogation room and not the morgue??" McNamara looked at Chandler for a second and then laughed. "What? did I say something particularly funny? Care to enlighten me on your little joke over here? Because I'm completely clueless." McNamara did a small double take, but didn't stop laughing.  _OH GOD, OH GOD, OH GOD! THIS HAS TO BE A FUCKING DREAM! CLEARLY I'M NOT TALKING TO A DEAD PERSON. WAKE THE HELL UP HEATH_ \- *SMACK!!!* Chandlers palm came into contact with McNamara's face, leaving a blow hard enough to sting, but not really do anything else. "Pull yourself together right this instant! I'm not going to have you go into hysterics on me, it wouldn't be helpful to you, it wouldn't be helpful to me, and it definitely wouldn't be helpful to Veronica." Heather looked up quickly from rubbing her stinging cheek at the mention of Veronica. "You mean she's ALIVE!? You've actually SEEN her!?" She was filled with sudden hope and joy. She could tell the police where Veronica was and this whole mess could finally be over. Chandler gave a pitiful sigh at her hopeful expression. It dimmed a bit. "Heather, sweetheart... Veronica is between a rock and a really hard place right now, and the gap is getting smaller. I've seen and talked to her, yes. But I have no real idea of where she is, where HE'S taking her, or anything of that sort. I can't help you girls, this is going to have to be something you do on your own." McNamara's face fell, harder than it had when she found Veronica gone in the first place. "She... she's not in Ohio anymore, is she?" Chandler nodded in confirmation. The crestfallen look on McNamara's face turned to determination. "I'm going to get her out of there... but first, I have to get out of here."

Chandler looked closer at McNamara, of course it didn't count that she could see her. All the student's who had attended Westerburg could see her. She had to grab someone who McNamara wasn't directly tied to... "I'll be right back, don't go anywhere." She turned around and reappeared in the ghost copy of Sherwood. She grabbed the first person she saw, a random preppy girl who she thought might have been a cheerleader, and teleported back into Heather's mind. "What the HELL" the random girl pulled her arm away before realizing who she was talking to. "OHMYGOD, I'm SO SORRY! I didn't realize who I was talking too!!", " Heather, who is this?" McNamara asked, bringing the other girl's attention to her as well. "No one, I was just testing out a theory.". "H-HEATHER?!? You aren't dead!?", "No she's not, now come on. Back to Sherwood with you." Chandler snapped her fingers and the other girl vanished back into the ghost world. "What theory?" McNamara asked, used to Heather's constant use of their peers to prove some point and therefore unfazed by the whole ordeal just now. "The theory that Heather accidentally forced your third eye open in her desperation to be seen and heard." Chandler made a mental note to kill her about that later. "Is that a bad thing?" McNamara asked nervously, unsure of what was happening, and , as had been usual lately, completely and utterly out of control of the situation. "I can adjust it, but the effects aren't going to wear off completely for a while, You're going to have to learn to tune it out too. It's never going to completely go away, but it can be mostly closed. Your third eye is what you use to see spirits in the real world. I would stay away from cemeteries if I were you... and probably the high school too. There are way too many dead people there, and you may get overloaded again

McNamara opened her mouth as if in protest, but then thought better of it and closed it again.  _Best not to say anything, she won't allow it if you do..._ "I won't" Heather said with a face that may as well have been made of marble for all the emotion it conveyed. Chandler took note of this, and then promptly dismissed it as her trying to cope with literally everything right now.  _She's going to see right through me... she practically invented the poker face._ Again, nothing happened. "So, I'm guessing that you have a lot of questions. You've been out of the loop for quite a while, haven't you?" McNamara considered this for a second and realized that she had no idea where to start. "Umm... was it him?" She asked finally, feeling a little stupid for asking such an obvious question. "No, it was fucking Santa Clause." Chandler said, rolling her eyes at how dumb the question was. "How is she, has he hurt her?" McNamara asked, ignoring the snarky reply she had gotten before. "Not physically, but there are some things going on inside her head, I can't tell how severe it is so far... but it's not going to end pretty if it doesn't stop." Chandler sighed, trying her best to imagine that she was just having a normal conversation with one of her friends. However, her efforts were wasted due to the amount of decidedly not normal things that were happening at the moment. McNamara considered this somberly for a moment before realizing something. "I've heard your voice in dreams before... Veronica can only see you in dreams can't she, that's why you don't know where she is isn't it?"

Chandler was mildly taken aback at this conclusion that had occurred so quickly. "I can see why you'd think that, but no. Veronica is a special case becaus-!" She stopped herself mid sentence, revealing the truth would be too hard for right now. "What? how is she different?" McNamara asked suspiciously."You don't need to worry about it 'til later. You'll find out soon enough though, I'm sure." Chandler said, a little quickly at first but calming down towards the end. "You're going to end up out of jail soon, and they're going to want to know what you know about HIM." She sighed before continuing. "Explore the woods behind the school some, ok? There's something there that will help you." McNamara was still a little suspicious about before but her interest was piqued about the woods. "Why, what could be in there?", "Just something... look; do you know how long you've been out for?" McNamara shrugged. "About a couple hours?" she guessed. "Wrong, you've been out for about a week now, they have you in the hospital and you're close to coming around. Don't forget what I said!" Chandler said, her voice becoming fainter while the room slipped out of focus. "Wha- but I still don't know anything!", "Just don't forget, go to the forest!" were the last words McNamara heard before she awoke to the sound of a heart monitor next to her. Looking around she saw that she had an IV in her arm. Her movements alerted a silent observer that she was awake. "Are you alright, Ms. McNamara?" Officer Hansen asked. Even if she didn't have an intubation tube down her throat, she wouldn't have responded. She didn't know how. "I'll go get Dr. Pelline." He said, walking our the door. _"Wait."_  Heather thought. _"Dr. Who-now?!"_


	14. A Bouquet of Thorns

JD sighed in mild frustration with Veronica. He had been trying to regain her favor for the past week to no avail. He’d made her favorite meal, given her full control over the remote, bought flowers and chocolate. No matter what he did she would stay just as angry with him. He was still making efforts though, despite her obstinance. Today he was going to let her have a bath, she hadn’t had one in a while after all. He’d have to watch over her though, she seemed to be predisposed to “accidents” lately where she would end up getting hurt, and he needed to make sure she didn’t drown. He walked down the stairs and over to the bed. Veronica was not currently there, however. He, after babyproofing everything, had removed the ropes from her ankles. He felt pride in the fact that Veronica was walking around THEIR house. She was his, and his only. Every day, he smiled as he remembered that simple fact. "Veronica, where are you?" He called out to his angel. There was no response "Don't hide from me, I have a surprise for you!" He said, chipper as ever. Still, no response, was she hiding for some reason?

Meanwhile, Veronica was crouching in the corner of a closet in the basement. Honestly, she didn't know why she was trying this at this point. He'd find her soon anyway. There were only so many places she could go in this house. She had been confined to the basement so that she couldn't get away, and so far it had worked. Despite her efforts, she still had no way out. She'd even tried a few more permanent ways of escape but with JD constantly hovering over her, there had been no luck there either. In fact,  she felt dangerously close to losing what limited roaming she had over the house. She heard JD call out for her again, and burrowed deeper into the corner. Yes, he'd find her soon, but until then she didn't have to constantly see him in the corner of her vision. A small comfort for her rocky terrain. She wondered about the last time she had locked herself in the closet and wondered if he'd jump to conclusions about why she was in there. The thought amused her a bit as she sat, facing the door. She heard footsteps coming closer to the door. 

 JD stood outside the closet door and lightly knocked. He heard the faintest catch of breath coming from inside. "Veronica, I know you're in there. Come on out, I'm not going to bite." He said, but he couldn't help but think of the last time she had pulled this trick. He knocked a little more insistently. "Veronica, Open. This. Door." He said, more intensely. He heard her in there, shifting a little bit, then silence. "Veronica, I'm going to count to five and when I turn around this door had better be open. If it's not then I'm going to come in there and get you myself. I don't think you want that, it'll just mean fewer privileges for you." He turned away from the door. "One," he said calmly, he knew that she wasn't going to come out on her own but he didn't let it bother him. She just needed redirection. "Two," He knew she wasn't going to come out on her own but he could still hope. It would show more progress than her simply not actively trying to attack him when he was anywhere near her. "Three," Did hear some movement or was it just his imagination? He hadn't made it this far last time, that was his mistake. He had expected immediate results from his simply being there. He needed to be patient with her. "Four" He would be extra understanding and not cruel but misbehavior called for punishment. "Veronica, this is your last chance to come out by yourself. It's not a problem for someone with a key to get into a locked room." He said, pulling said key out of his pocket, Still no response. "Five. Alright, I'm coming in there Ronnie." He said, unlocking the door and opening it wide. Sure enough, Veronica was in there, facing the door from a dark corner.

 “Veronica, I'm not going to play these games with you. Are you going to get up on your own or am I going to have to pick you up and carry you to the bathroom myself?” JD asked when Veronica simply looked away from him and stared at the wall instead. He waited a couple of seconds and Veronica surprisingly stood up and walked over to the bathroom. “Huh, I honestly didn’t think that would work.” He said to himself. He then followed her to the bathroom and filled the bath. Originally, he had intended on it being a bubble bath, but the lack of bubbles was his form of punishment. “I’m not going to get in with you, don’t worry. I’m only here so you don’t get hurt. Think of me as your lifeguard if it makes you feel better.” JD said, jokingly on the last part. Veronica didn’t smile, she just got in the bath and started cleaning off all the built-up dirt and such. JD was a little bit annoyed at this. While she did usually give him the silent treatment it was starting to get old. Sure, he could spend time upstairs; planning where they were going to go next. But he wanted to spend as much time with his wife as possible. He wanted to get her all the way back to him instead of her simply being in the room with him.

"Ronnie, aren't you forgetting something?" he asked, a little confused and a touch amused. "What?" Veronica asked coldly, looking over at him with a glare for having interrupted her bath. "The soap is all the way over here. What were you planning on washing with exactly?" JD said, picking the soap up from off the counter and handing it to her. "Thanks" she growled quickly, snatching the bar from out of his hands and lathering it up. Single word responses, huh? That was better than the silent treatment he supposed. At the very least it was less like talking to a wall. Veronica still listened to him about as much as a cat would. Which meant when it was convenient for her. She was acting like a child who hadn't gotten their way and was now throwing a fit about it. So, until she stopped misbehaving he'd just have to keep up the discipline. Veronica, now done with her bath and much cleaner, stepped out of the tub and grabbed a towel. JD watched her closely when she took the towel. The chances of her trying to pull that stunt again were small, but he couldn't take any chances. His happy ending was so close he could taste it, he wasn't about to let it get ripped away in a moment of defiance.

JD handed Veronica her bag of clothes, he had recently washed them, so she didn't need to put back on the outfit she'd had before. She said nothing, just dressed and walked away. So much for pampering her then... she wouldn't even give him the time of day. JD looked into his bag to see what else they could do and then noticed two books. The former was a marked up and well-loved copy of Moby Dick. The second was a plain, blue covered journal. When he had opened the book to write the note that 'Veronica' had left behind he had noticed some incriminating passages that would make it harder for him to just disappear. So he'd torn out the note and kept the book. He thought about it for a second and decided that he'd let her have it back. After all, that was something she liked, and maybe when she wasn't looking he could look inside it to see what she'd written about him to get a better grip on the situation. The other book, he decided, would simply be an inside joke between the two of them. She would like that, right? He picked up the two books and left the bathroom, turning off the light behind him.

"Ronnie, I have a present for youuuu~," He said, chipper and singsong. Veronica didn't even look away from the TV for this. "What do you want?" She said in an exasperated voice. "I brought you some things to do down here. I know it's kind of boring, especially since you won't talk to me. But, I got you your old journal back, and this novel too." Veronica actually looked away from the TV at this, but not to look at him, to look at the books he had placed on the bed. She seemed pleased enough when she looked through the journal but her face became appalled when she realized what the other book was. " WHAT THE FUCKING HELL JD!!?!" She screamed, her voice echoing off the empty walls and making him wince. "What?" he said innocently. "I thought you enjoyed Moby Dick?" Veronica was mad now, why the hell did he think it was funny to play with her like this? She picked up her journal and walked into the corner to write something.  _Well, that went well_. JD thought to himself as he picked up the other book and went up the stairs.  _What the heck is her problem anyway? I do all this stuff for her and she's always either angry or expressionless._ He dropped the book unceremoniously down on the table in the 'living room' and flopped himself down on the old, moth-eaten couch.

What the hell had those assholes done to her anyway? Whatever it was, they did a number on her, that's for sure. "Why Veronica? Why won't you just let me help you? Why do you have to be so damn difficult all the time?" He said aloud to himself,  punching the side of the couch. He had almost everything, why did his long-dead classmates have to keep the most important thing away from him? It just wasn't fair, why should he, who had worked hard for everything he had, be denied his most important pillar while those lazy bums around him got everything they wanted without having to lift a finger? JD wondered if Heather was feeding her these stupid ideas or if Veronica was simply being difficult for the sake of being difficult. It made no difference either way but JD preferred the idea that his sweet Ronnie wasn't so badly damaged that she would go against him for no other reason than to irritate him.

JD sat up on the couch to see that Veronica had settled herself down in that corner, or, at least she  _tried_ to. The concrete floor was not a very forgiving surface for someone to curl up in a corner on. Still, she managed, turning to the most recent page before seeing the jagged edge that suggests a page was ripped out. Considering the fact that she never written on, let alone ripped out that page, she was, of course, suspicious of what JD had possibly written on it. Still, she didn't question as she probably didn't want to know. All she did was send a questioning glare his way, before returning her attention to the journal before he could respond. That did not deter him from continuing to study her. The tips of that brown hair that he loved so much had gotten a  bit wet from the bath, and he knew from experience it would get cold on the back of her neck. With only his body and trench coat to keep her warm, cold wet hair tips on the back of her neck would keep her from getting any sleep at night. So in a split second decision, JD got up and went over to her. She glared up at the intruding figure whose shadow was blocking her light.

Extending his hand to her, he cooed, "C'mon, Darling. The concrete floor is no place for an angel to sit." She glared at his hand before going back to ignoring it completely. JD pouted before deciding to hint at the surprise he had in store for her. "C'mon, Ronnie, don't be like that! If you ignore me, how can I pamper you with this next surprise?" "'Surprise' my ass," She grumbled. "I don't want any more of your 'surprises' after that last one." JD sighed, before sliding down the wall to sit next to her. "I honestly don't get why you didn't like that little joke I tacked in at the end. I thought it was funny." She rolled her eyes before going back to her writing, which was actually her shading the edge of her pencil over the paper to see the imprints of what he had written. JD, paying no mind to what she was doing in the journal, began to speak again. "What if I told you that this next surprise had nothing to do with a book or a slushie of any object whatsoever?" She humphed at his words, still not paying attention that much. JD sighed before scooping her up bridal style and carrying her over to the bed.

During his antics, Veronica slammed the book shut and started to resist. "WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?!!!" She yelled at him. Setting her down on the bed with her back to him, he said, "I'm braiding your hair, Darling. What did you think I was doing?" "..." Having no response for this, Veronica turned back to look at him with confusion. She couldn't quite figure out why he was doing what he was doing. After all, he never did anything without a reason. That is not how Jason Dean functions. Still, she didn't turn back around when he guided her chin to face forward again. After a minute of making sure that she would lash out for any reason- though, due to her reaction he wasn't really worried about it,- he started to slowly fork his fingers through her hair, having decided that the trip to the bathroom to get the hairbrush was too long. Upon feeling his fingers in her hair, Veronica was brought back to reality from her land of questionings. She had to admit it did feel nice, considering she wasn't exactly sure how he could be so gentle with it. It's not like he braids her hair on a regular basis.

Thinking back to when he was a child, JD remembered the long hair that his mother had. She wore it braids very often, and he was intrigued by it. He remembered all the different styles of braiding that she taught him. It was their way of bonding as mother and son. Once he was sure that Veronica's hair was all combed out, he began separating it into three sections. He'd just go with a simple three-strand braid since his memory on how to actually _do_ the more complicated styles was a tad fuzzy. Veronica pursed her lips, before deciding that he'd be too busy fiddling with her hair to look over her shoulder. She went back to shading in the message on the paper, just as she had suspected, there was a note written on that page, most certainly not by her.

 ** _"Dear Mom and Dad,_  **  
**_If you’re reading this, then you’ve noticed I’m gone. But, don’t come looking for me. By the time you’ve read this, I’ll have been long gone. JD and I are eloping and decided to move when we do so. I love you both dearly, but it’s a private event and you aren’t invited. Please, just forget about me. Goodbye._  **  
**_With love, your daughter, Veronica"_**

After reading it through, she couldn't help but note that if he had her handwriting down cold before, he might as well  _be_ her if he can forge her handwriting like this,  _now_. Once he was done, which was earlier than expected, she couldn't help but say to him with a very dismal tone, "So  _that's_ why you keep calling me your bride." "Hmm?" JD hummed before looking over her shoulder. After reading the copy of the note he said, "Oh yeah, that. Well, I wasn't exactly  _lying_ , when I wrote that-- "Minus the part where we decided to move,  _together_. There wasn't really any consent on my part." She interrupted. JD nuzzled his cheek to her. "Yes, I know, it was a surprise trip for you, but you'll see why I did that soon enough, Darling."


	15. Into the Woods

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Surprise, we're not dead after all! *leaves this here for you*

Dr. Pelline sat alone in her home office attempting to make some sense of the papers out in front of her. Sighing, she pushed the papers away and leaned back in her chair. She hadn't been able to get that case about the Westerburg bombing out of her head. Those two girls knew something, they had to somehow be involved in all of this. But she couldn't quite tell which side they were on. They seemed innocent enough but how come they were the only ones who made it out? None of it made any sense. And who exactly was that girl that they had mentioned... was it Veronica? Yes, Veronica.... something. She seemed to recall Athena saying something about her before, something about how she had become really popular all of a sudden. How was she wrapped up in all of this? Also, if she somehow WAS then how come she wasn't being interrogated along with the other two girls? If she had somehow been injured then she would've known about it... right? They wouldn't have just let her suffer, not when they called her about that other girl who had passed out. Then she realized something. "Of course-!" she exclaimed, knocking her chair over as she stood up. The reason she hadn't seen her was that she wasn't there. That was the girl who had gone missing a few days before the attack. Veronica Sawyer... wait, hadn't she heard that name at work before? Maybe a week before the attack, something about a high school girl being all beat up and some odd burns. Was that her? She wasn't sure.

The two other girls had been released recently but were being watched. Not obviously of course, but she had a feeling they knew. There were rumors floating around that the two students who had gone missing before the attack were somehow responsible. She couldn't remember the name of the young man but she recalled that his father worked for a demolition company. That would explain the origin of the explosives. Of course, it could be purely coincidental. What motive would a couple of high schools students have for murdering all of their peers? Suddenly, she heard a soft knocking on her door. She picked up her chair carefully and put it upright. "Come in," she said, straightening the papers on her desk. Her daughter Athena walked into the room, slowly and cautiously. "Mom..." she started softly. Dr. Pelline blinked in surprise, this was the first she had seen of her daughter since the news of the bombing had reached her. "What is it, sweetheart?" She asked gently, looking at her clearly upset daughter with care in her eyes. "Mom, I want to move away. I don't feel safe here anymore, I don't know who attacked the high school or who they were after. They might still be in town and I don't want to stick around and find out.

Dr. Pelline took a deep breath and leaned back in her chair slowly before nodding carefully. Her last baby was leaving her so soon? She was fighting tears, this would leave her alone with her youngest daughter's ghost. But she could completely understand the reasoning at the same time. "I know you're an adult and that this is your choice sweetie, I don't blame you for wanting to leave," she said finally, blinking away her tears. "You go where your heart leads you sweetie, and stay safe. I'm going to stay and work on getting to the bottom of this so that you can come home if you so wish." Athena blinked, then rushed headfirst into her mother, wrapping her arms around her in a tight hug. "I'm scared Momma, so scared." she whimpered into the hug, tears rolling off her face and soaking into the fabric of her mother's shirt. "We all are, sweetheart, but we're going to set it right so that you can come home, baby. We'll have a picnic at the graveyard and light a candle on Lady's grave, okay?" she said, stroking her daughter's hair gently, trying to comfort her by painting a picture of a brighter future. Athena had no response, she just buried herself deeper into the hug, shaking slightly from the sobs. Dr. Pelline decided at that moment that she would do anything to bring the monster who had committed this atrocity to justice. Anything to keep her baby safe, to avenge her sweet Lady. She continued to hold her only remaining daughter close and safe. She continued to gently stroke her hair soothingly, almost in an effort to make sure she was still there. "My babies are all leaving me so soon," She whispered to herself before removing herself from the hug to help Athena pack for her move.

* * *

  **A little while later, at Martha's house**

The two girls had been working tirelessly to try and locate the missing couple since they had been released from police custody. There hadn't been a release from the tension at all though. They knew that they were still being watched by the police. They didn't care at this point though. All they cared about was finding Veronica as quickly as possible and getting JD turned in. McNamara thought back on the time that she had spent in the void with Chandler. Was that a dream? It had seemed awfully real, especially with how that slap had felt. "Go into the woods" she whispered to herself under her breath. It had been a couple of days since she was discharged from the hospital but her headache hadn't noticeably improved. "Martha, do you have like a bookbag or something we can use to carry things on a short hike?" she asked suddenly. "Um yes, why?" Martha responded, looking up from the map that she had found of the town and surrounding area. "Just trust me, I think that a walk will do us both some good," Heather responded dismissively. Martha looked questioningly at her but grabbed the backpack and some water and such anyway. "Where are we going through?" she asked Heather as she zipped up the bag and pulled it onto her back. "We're going to go on a hike in the woods behind the school," Heather responded, sounding a lot surer of herself than she actually felt. Martha did a double take at that. "Um, are you sure you're feeling alright Heather?" she asked cautiously. "I can call the doctor and tell them if you still aren't alright." McNamara took a deep breath before responding. "I know that this is insane but just trust me alright? I'm fine and I don't think I'm going to pass out again. But we need to go take a look at the woods, alright?" Martha furrowed her eyebrows but nodded anyway. “Alright, but just let me know if you feel any form of lightheadedness.”

The girls walked out the front door, McNamara turning to see if that black car with tinted windows was still parked at the end of her street. It was. She hummed. Perhaps, it was for the better. If they followed then it would be easier for the girls to get a good rep with the PD for getting them some more clues... IF they found anything... Dr. Pelline noticed two figures making their way toward the forest nearby the demolished school. Out of confusion she turned around her car and parked it, breaking her route to the post office. She looked a little closer at the people approaching the woods and realized that it was the girls from before. Cautiously, she moved closer. “What are they up to?” She muttered to herself, her breath catching a bit when she saw the blonde stumble and hold her head for a second before pressing on. Was she alright? Her eyes seemed to be darting around and settling in places where there was nothing to look at. It didn’t look like a fever, what was that? She resolved to follow the girls until she could figure out what was happening there. After all, there may be some clue as to what led up to the events of the Westerberg bombing.

Heather looked cautiously around herself, making note of many semi-transparent figures standing right in front of the forest. None said anything but she knew why they were here. One nodded to her before turning around and walking into the woods. Heather followed her and Martha walked after her confusedly, looking slightly concerned at her friend’s odd behavior. The spirit who was guiding Heather was not someone she had known. She was wearing a cheerleader’s uniform so she had been on the cheer squad but she looked like just about any other girl on the team. Long hair, pretty face, and skinny body. Nonetheless, she continued to follow her until she stopped in front of a twisted tree suddenly, causing Heather to trip over an upraised root and Martha to run into her and fall over. After some dusting off and apologizing Heather turned back to the tree where she realized that the spirit was gone. Instead, she looked closer at the tree and recoiled. “Martha... look.” She said in shock, taking a half step back. Martha looked over to where Heather was pointing and her eyes went wide. On the trunk of the tree was a large blood stain. However, upon closer inspection, she noticed a couple of other things, for example, a scrap of bright blue fabric stuck to a piece of the bark near the bottom of the tree and a green scrunchie caught on a low hanging branch. “What happened here...?” She said in a hushed voice, not sure what to make of it. “I’m not sure,” Heather responded. “Whose blood do you think it is?” Martha asked. “I have no idea... do you think we should alert the police?” Heather responded. Martha nodded and they turned to where they had last heard footsteps and called out. “We know you’re there. We need your help to identify these things” There was a shift by the tree but instead of the expected policeman emerging they saw a familiar face. “Dr. Pelline!?” Heather exclaimed. “What are you doing here?!"

"I could be asking you girls the same question!" Dr. Pelline retorted. "Especially you, Ms. McNamara. Your head injury could still cause some dizziness, causing you to fall, and inflict more damage on yourself." "I'm fine, Doc," Heather said. "But I really  _do_ think that you ought to take a look at this." Pelline came forward, to look at the things the girls found. "... A blue scrap of fabric, a green scrunchie, and a blood stain on a tree?" She asked. "What does this have to do with anything?" "Well, Veronica used to wear blue. It was her designated color. Like, how I wear yellow all the time." Heather said, pointing to the fabric. "Same goes for Heather Duke, her color was green, that's her scrunchie!" "What do you know of Ms. Sawyer?" Doctor Pelline asked. "She's my best friend," Martha said. "I talked about her when the police were interrogating me." "As did I, she saved my life!" Heather added. "I was this close to swallowing a bottle of sleeping pills, and she made me spit them out!" Dr. Pelline nodded in understanding. She didn't need the details of Ms. McNamara's situation right now. This was about clues and testimony and the ruling out of suspects. If these girls were completely innocent and oblivious of the crime, why would Ms. Sawyer leave it up to fate that her friends would make it out of the building? That leaves only one person alive... "What was the name of the other student who went missing a few days prior?" "His name was Jason Dean, Doc," Martha said. "I suspect him now, and I suspected him a long while ago." "Is there any chance that that blood stain could be his?" Heather asked, pointing to the red splotch. "Possibly..." Doctor Pelline said. "You girls have been quite helpful, that is if your testimony is true."

"We know about as much as you do, Doc," Martha said. "But, we want to help. Veronica's life could depend on it." "As does my daughter's..." Doctor Pelline said, her heart growing heavy like lead. Heather and Martha looked at each other. "You have a daughter?" Martha asked. "Correction, I had two." She said, not entirely understanding why she was opening up to these girls so easily. "My oldest was sick at home, the day of the bombing. My youngest..." "Athena..." Heather whispered. "What was her sister's name?" "Lady." Dr. Pelline said. "She had short brown hair, almost a hazelnut color, and her eyes... she and her sister both had dark brown eyes, practically black." "She was a freshman?" Martha looked at Heather. Dr. Pelline only stared. "Yes, how did you know that?" Heather wet her dried out lips and looked at the ground. Lady was the girl that almost lived... If only that damn door hadn't been locked! Heather cursed whatever sick prank of fate God had decided to play on her town, cursed the devil for ever letting that _hellspawn_ , Jason Dean roam the earth. Hundreds of kids were slaughtered in one day, but among them was an innocent girl, that was  _so f*cking close_ to being spared! Among them was a precious piece of a now broken and grieving family! _"Veronica, you lucky little b!tch!"_ A part of Heather thought, before realizing that Veronica would've been lucky if she died along with the rest of them. So, she scolded that part of herself. Heavily. She and Martha were the lucky ones... But, damn, did Heather wish to the Good Lord above that she could take Lady's place in the rubble.

Heather started shaking. If it were  _her_ , there would be one less family that was now left heartbroken from this atrocity. Her mom would be too drunk, her dad would be too busy with his work. They wouldn't grieve. No, they'd be fine. But, here was a woman who lost her precious baby. And a sister that lost her best friend. Here, was a family that loved each other, and was now shattered. "I'm so sorry..." She whispered. "Heather?" Martha asked. "Lady was the girl at the locked door, Martha," Heather whispered, curling in on herself. "She was so close..." Dr. Pelline looked wounded, and the all embrace each other. "I'm sorry, Doc... I'm sorry..." Heather kept repeating the phrase to herself... "Well, there's only one thing to do now," Martha said. Heather and Dr. Pelline looked to her, their eyes both teary. "What?" Heather asked. "We get the bastard who did this," Martha said, her lip trembling. There was no doubt in her mind now. She knew that Jason Dean killed the love of her life. Ram did not commit suicide with Kurt, and like hell was Martha going to keep mourning over it. Now, it was just a little fact that made the chance of seeing JD behind bars all the sweeter. "I'll call the police," Dr. Pelline said, walking back to her car. "Come, it's getting chilly out here."


	16. Of Predators and Prey

Veronica pinched the bridge of her nose, hunched over on the side of the bed. A pair of large towels were placed on the spot where she was sitting so that the stains wouldn't contaminate the mattress with red. It was her first period since being off the pill, and Veronica would be lying if she said she missed the horrible feeling that came with unrestricted hormones coursing through her body. However... it comes with its ups and downs. It would provide her with a distraction from his nonsense. In this nightmare, nothing is better than a distraction. However, when JD found out about her monthly hell week, he seemed to get even  _more_ clingy. Sure, he pampered her more than usual. He brought her chocolate and pads. He made a makeshift heating pad for her by heating up a wet washcloth in the microwave. Somehow, she couldn't help but realize that it was always the same blue tint. He massaged her back at night, helping with how it ached. He was even more lenient with his "discipline". And he allowed her to maintain a personal space bubble, which was really nice. But when her period finally passed, he went right back to his usual infuriating self.

That was about three weeks ago, and Veronica was hoping against hope that JD wouldn't detect her next cycle. However, seeing the calendar that he'd kept, she figured that wouldn't be the case. So, here she sat, waiting for Aunt Flow or JD to come to pester her some more. "Whichever comes first, I guess." She muttered, before flopping back onto the bed. Deciding that she was bored, Veronica grabbed the TV remote and flipped to the news. A commercial for nail polish remover was on and JD, hearing the TV, went down to see his wife. The brand was different from the nail polish that Veronica used, and it was acetone free.  _Well then, guess that kind will be of no use to me._ JD thought, and it caused him to chuckle. Veronica, having not noticed him lurking in the doorway, looked at him when he chuckled. Seeing that it was him, she groaned and focused back on the TV. "I don't know what you're laughing about, nor I don't _want_ to know." She grumbled as the nail polish commercial ended. "Maybe, I'll tell you about it later," JD said, coming to sit beside her.

The News channel came back on, and JD frowned. He didn't like it that she was watching so much negativity when she had the TV on. But, he didn't want to tell her not to watch it, because that would just make her mad at him. Plus, this was her only connection to the outside world, and he wasn't going to keep her held up in this basement forever. Once her mind was fully healed, he planned on reintroducing her back into the world, so that they could live a normal happy life. She'd have a hard time readjusting to it if she was completely isolated. The TV anchor was back on the scene of Westerburg's rubble. _Oh God, not more of this crap._ JD thought. "Tonight on ANC, more information on the bombing of Westerberg High and some new information that links this crime to the mysterious disappearances of 17-year-olds Veronica Sawyer and Jason Dean." Veronica blinked, before sighing. JD grew a little bit pale. Good thing Veronica turned on the TV, he needs to know what they know. "If you even think about changing the channel, you're going to lose a hand," Veronica muttered. "I'm not." JD shrugged. Sure, it'd be better if Veronica was away from this, but he needed to know and this was the most convenient.

"Two civilians, who have requested to remain anonymous, have brought to our attention a tree where a scrap of blue fabric with the DNA of Veronica Sawyer, a green scrunchie with a hair matched to Heather Duke, and a blood stain that belongs to Jason Dean were all found. There did not appear to be a struggle here. Among the three people identified, only the body of Heather Duke has been recovered from the ruins of Westerburg, along with a tattered trenchcoat and a blue blazer in the place where the boiler room once was. The bodies of Veronica Sawyer and Jason Dean have not been recovered. Among the trenchcoat and blazer is another bloodstain, once again belonging to Jason Dean. The authorities are not sure what to make of this." The reporter said. "Wow," Veronica muttered, glumly. "For someone who got away with murder multiple times, it kind of seems like you left a big mess with this one." "Because I didn't have my beautiful genius to help me," JD said. "Don't forget that we worked as a team the first two times." "More like you led me on as an unwitting accomplice." Veronica snapped.

Suddenly, a woman came and whispered something in the reporter's ear. JD snapped back to the screen. "Thank you, Anne." The reporter said as the woman walked off-frame. "This just in, the most recently updated list of the confirmed dead." Among the list of names, were Theodore and Valerie Sawyer. JD almost seemed to choke on his own spit. Veronica, having already known thanks to Heather, tried her best to act completely shocked.  _Ten, nine, eight, seven,_ Veronica counted down in her head. When she got to one, JD looked over, wondering if he was going to die tonight. Veronica closed her eyes and shook quietly in her place. "Give me one good reason why you shouldn't be sleeping in the bathtub, tonight," Veronica said, quietly. "I didn't know, Ronnie. I swear, I didn't know." JD said. "Would it have changed anything, if you had known?" Veronica asked. JD was silent. "I thought not. Get off the bed, you don't deserve to be on it." Veronica still had her eyes closed. JD slipped onto the floor. A few seconds passed by, and Veronica was silent. Not even a sniffle or whimper. Not even the shifting of the mattress. Nothing. The list of people ended, but JD didn't recall seeing Martha Dunnstock or Heather MacNamera's names. He wasn't sure if he did or not. Still, Veronica made no sound. When he turned back to look at her, her eyes were closed.

_Huh. No tears? Nothing in reaction to her parents' death, with exception of kicking me off the bed?_ He thought.  _That doesn't seem entirely fair. I didn't even know, why is she taking this out on me?!_ Veronica didn't move. "Also, Bud Dean, the father of accused criminal, Jason Dean, has also gone missing. However, we have reason to believe that he just stole a car and left." To hear that his dad was loose and running free made JD want to punch the wall. That geezer was always fucking everything up, and he shouldn't have to worry about him right now. Not to mention, it's extremely insulting when you're being called a criminal on live television.

"Mmhmm," Veronica's faint muttering could barely be heard over the reporter's slutty little voice. But JD heard it. He heard it loud and clear. _She thinks I'm a criminal! She agrees with that whore!!!_  JD clenched his fist. _How insensitive of her._  JD glared at her. "How rude." He said. "You're one to talk. If you're going to make that face at me for something as petty as this, you can do it from the bathroom. You didn't see _me_  glaring when we found out what you did to my parents." She snapped, bitterly. JD sprang to his feet and marched towards the bathroom. Closing the door behind him, he got into the tub, but not before folding a towel into a pillow. This brought him to think about the time he tried to give her a bubble bath and she completely blew him off. He sighed angrily, and the echo of his voice against the tile brought the sheer volume of her yelling to mind, how it bounced off the walls and hurt his eardrums. He scowled. The fighting. She'd left a bruise on his leg where she kicked him the other day. So close to his crotch too... JD growled. "At least I don't punch her in the breast!" Still, all the fighting and yelling. She went off the walls when she'd learned about him bombing the school... but with her parents, it was different... She wasn't yelling at him... or even speaking above a soft grumble. Not a single tear? She waited for him to make the first move even! _What the hell?! You go off on me when I kill a bunch of strangers, but all you do is close your eyes when I accidentally kill your parents?!!_  JD mentally stewed. The more his irritation simmered, the more it bubbled and streamed. Then he realized something. Man, this girl only sent him to sleep in the tub so that she could get away from him!  _Veronica, you little bitch._ That was it.

JD got up out of the bathtub and walked right back into the room. Veronica looked up at him, disapproval and boredom written all over her face. "And what do you think, you're doing?" She asked, her chin tilting up to look at JD as he towered in front of her. "Ronnie, you don't play very nicely, do you?" He stooped down a little and donned a wicked grin. Veronica held her expression, but the pure malice in his eyes did wonders to make the color drain from her face.  _Well, this isn't going to end well,_ She thought. In an action brought about by her fight or flight response, which had grown in activity quite a lot over the last... what, month and a half almost? Veronica brought her feet up to JD's chest and kicked him back. JD stumbled and Veronica lunged forward to get a tight grip on his jugular. Despite him desperately clawing at her in order to get her off of him, she managed to snatch the key to the basement from inside his trenchcoat. With that, securely in her grasp, she slammed JD's head down into the concrete and made a mad dash for the door. Sadly, her attempt at knocking him out didn't work as well as she'd hoped, and he was on her tail before she could close and lock the door behind her. She almost got dragged down the stairs when he reached out for her hair, but luckily, there was a door at the top of the staircase that led to the basement, and she was able to slam it in his face before he could reach her. Pressing all her weight against the door, which made spots on her back vibrate as JD pounded away at it, she looked around for something to use as a barricade. The only thing she could reach was a flimsy wooden chair in the kitchen. She grabbed it and shoved it beneath the handle, hoping that it'd hold the door shut against JD for at least a little bit. A giant ram from the door nearly sent the chair flying. Veronica raced to the front door. Locked. _Damn it, he must still have the key on him._ She thought. She looked around. All the windows were boarded up as well. She couldn't get out by any means!  _Okay, time to go find something to use._ She thought, before looking for a weapon of sorts. Nothing. The only thing she found was a padlock on what she would assume used to be the pantry. But, before she could see if it would open, the chair crashed into the wall, and JD burst from the basement, smoke seeming to flare from his nostrils. Veronica raised to the nearest unlocked room, coincidentally, the bathroom. She locked the door behind her.

Holding her breath, she heard JD calling her name. "Veronica, I'm going to count to three and if you don't come out from wherever you are, you're going to be some major trouble!" He yelled. "One!" Veronica pressed all her weight against the bathroom door. Thankfully, it needed to be pushed in order for one to enter the room. "Two!" Veronica looked to the window. It was small. Too small for her to squeeze through, but it was the only one she'd seen that wasn't boarded up. "Three! That's it! When I find you, you're going to face some serious punishment!" Veronica couldn't help herself, she quietly got up and went to the window. She had to balance on the toilet seat to peer out of it. All around her were trees. She was in the middle of nowhere. The door to the bathroom rattled, as JD tried to open it. "Found you, Veronica." He said, his voice low and _dripping_ with evil intent. Veronica desperately tried to open the window, but it wouldn't budge. Years of disuse, ice, and cold had made the wood swell so that it was too snuggly fit into the sile to move. Veronica pushed even harder. She could hear her heart pounding in her ears. The jingle of JD's keys as he found one that could unlock the door. As soon as she thought that the window would budge, the door flew open and JD wrapped his arms around her middle. "NO! NO!!! PUT ME DOWN YOU PSYCHOPATHIC FUCK!!!" Veronica screamed and kicked and fought with her captor. All the while, he refused to do so, and he dragged her back down to the basement, wrestled the key out of her fist, and flung her onto the bed. "You are in so much trouble, Veronica. No more Mr. Nice Guy for the night." JD growled, before spreading her legs and pressing her down into the mattress.


End file.
